The Mirror
by Ryuu22
Summary: A mirror that connects two worlds was left hidden in a tower, never to see the light of day again. But when the strange group emerges from the mirror, it is up to one girl to send them back home. It could mean the end of her if she fails. No OC pairings.
1. Chapter 1

**The Mirror **

**Chapter One**

* * *

Zeppelin was resting in her 1957 Lincoln Premiere Convertible. She has always adored the car for its vibrant red paint that was almost the same shade as her curly locks. Her father was the one who use to own the convertible and perpetually washed and polished the car, with the help of his little girl. Zeppelin would take full ownership of the car once her mother bought a new one, but until then her mother owned the vehicle.

Zeppelin looked out the window and saw dark, unfriendly clouds blowing overhead and so she glared at them, as if it would help them disappear. She gave up and repositioned herself in her seat so she could lean against the door; she had to take off her seat buckle to do so. Zeppelin's mother, Mrs. Sims, looked back when she heard the click of the buckle.

"Hey, put that back on." She turned her attention back to the road. When she did not hear the click she made a quick inspection of her daughter and asked, "What did I just tell you?"

Zeppelin sighed. "Ok, Ok." She grabbed both ends of the buckle and clicked it into place. "Happy?"

Her mother smiled at her through the front mirror. "Very, now don't be to upset, it's a nice town and the house is huge! There's lots of space for us, so no more teeny-tiny house."

"I liked our teeny-tiny house… if dad were here he wouldn't have made us move…" Zeppelin mumbled. Her mother rolled her eyes and let out a long irritated sigh.

"Please just give this house a chance. I'm sure dad would have loved it too," she said, rubbing her temple. Mrs. Sims looked through the mirror and saw Zeppelin looking out the window with her arms crossed. Mrs. Sims has tried her best over the years to make her daughter happy, but ever since the death of Zeppelin's father she hasn't even smiled. Not once.

"Whatever…" 'He loved our old house.' She thought to herself. Zeppelin was moving away from the few friends she had, her family and, most importantly, her father's grave, the one place she felt at ease. Some might find this a bit strange, but she felt that this way she could pay him a visit and let him know what was going on in her life, the one he was missing out on. Zeppelin recalled the time she helped her father clean Cherry, her red convertible.

"_Daddy, can I help wash Cherry?"_

"_Sure pumpkin," her father smiled. __Little Zeppelin skipped over to the bucket of soapy water; her curls bounced with the rhythm of her steps. She grabbed an oversized yellow sponge and walked over to her father. _

_"How do you wash a car?"She asked him with a puzzled expression planted on her face._

"_Well you should start with the top but… you're too short to reach," he chuckled and patted her head. "I have a better idea; you can rinse the car after I wash it, ok sweetie?"_

"_Ok!" Little Zeppelin dropped the sponge in the bucket, walked over to the edge of the driveway and plopped down to watch her father wash Cherry. He started with the top, just as he told her, and worked his way down. He cleaned every nook and cranny, and soon Cherry was covered in suds. Mr. Sims gave Zeppelin the thumbs up when he was finished. _

_Zeppelin dashed to the side of the house for the garden hose. She dragged it behind her all the way back to their driveway. She pointed it up at the car. Her father realized that even rinsing Cherry would prove a challenge for little Zeppelin, so he scooped her up in his arms and lifted her up. Zeppelin turned on the hose and rinsed the suds away._

_When she was placed back on the ground, Zeppelin twirled around and sprayed her dear old father right in the face. Her father howled with laughter and chased her around in their front yard, grabbing the attention of some neighbors. When he had the chance, he ran over to the end of the hose and turned the water off. _

_When the water stopped flowing, Zeppelin looked into the hose and shouted, __"Hey! Come back!"_ _Mr. Sims snuck up behind his daughter and grabbed her from behind, into his arms. She shrieked and told him to let her go. When Zeppelin stopped squirming, he kissed her on her lightly freckled cheek. She pouted and wiped the kiss off with the back of her hand. _

Zeppelin looked back out the window. Giant trees surrounded the area, their branches dangling over the road. Some, if not all, look like they were dead or dying. Almost none had any leaves and she pondered why.

"Ma, are we there yet?"

"Almost, our house is at the end of this road." She took a right down a winding road that was made of gravel with many dips and tiny hills. It was unpleasant to sit in the bouncing car and Zeppelin was loosing her patience. She just wanted the day to be over.

"We're here!" Her mother pulled up in front of a huge Victorian style house. Zeppelin peeked through the front window to get a better look. The paint was once a light shade of green and tan, both colors separated the house in different sections. All the molding used to be a vibrant green, now dull and fading. The tower toward the front was a bit different from the rest of the house, for it was a beautiful maroon and the only window was at the very top. It reminded Zeppelin of the story "Rapunzel", the one her mother used to tell her.

The entryway had a gable roof and a horseshoe arch set inside the bottom of the corner tower. The chimney was set high above the rest of the house, as if it was looking down at the house's new residents. Windows were grouped in either twos or threes, except the tower. Overall, the house was probably a very lovely place once upon a time, but now it showed its years of neglect.

Zeppelin's only interest was in the tower. When she looked back up at it, she noticed there was a sun, setting or rising, floating above red clouds and a golden sun, above the window. It seemed so out of place, and that truly peeved Zeppelin.

"Mom," Zeppelin said as she and her mother stepped out of the car. "What's in the tower?"

"Huh?" Her mom turned around, "Oh, nothing dear. There isn't a door to even get in; it seems that the only way in is through the window. It really is quite odd, don't you think?"

"Yeah…." Zeppelin carefully closed Cherry's door and walked over to the porch with her mother. Mrs. Sims reached a hand into her worn out leather purse to grab the key, but she was having no luck. She kneeled down and emptied the purse's possessions and looked franticly through the pile of junk for the ancient key.

"I think I lost the key…"

"Really? This is just super…"

Mrs. Sims started to go back to the car. "Don't worry; I'll look in the car. It must have fallen out." Zeppelin watched her mother search for the key and knew she found it when she bumped her head on the steering wheel, causing the horn to go off. Her mother jumped a mile and plummeted onto the gravel driveway.

Zeppelin smacked her palm on her forehead. "You ok mom?"

"Yeah." She stumbled over to the front door and inserted the key and twisted her wrist. The door was stuck for a moment and required both girls to shove it open, but eventually it gave in.

"So far so good." Zeppelin said with a hint of sarcasm. Her mother only glared, then looked around the main entrance. The color theme was a bit mellower inside, but just like the outside, everything was fading away or chipping. A chandelier was hung by a chain in the center of the ceiling and appeared to be made of crystals. 'Original perhaps,' Zeppelin thought, 'And the only reason this house has value.'

There were windows along both sides of the front door and in the room to the left, known as a parlor, and to the right of that was a door that leads to the basement. Directly ahead of the foyer was a staircase where the bedrooms were located and next to that was a hall, leading to the kitchen, living room, and dining room. Zeppelin and her mother walked down the hall and found the kitchen, and much to Zeppelin's relief, it was upgraded to modern ages. The only originals in that room were the floor and lighting, which were converted from running on gas to electricity. They walked out of the kitchen and across the hall to the dinning room. It had built in shelves in one of the walls and another crystal chandelier hung in the center of the ceiling, within a tray ceiling. Crown molding outlined it all. Two small windows were neatly placed in the corner and let in almost no light.

Still unhappy with the home, Zeppelin told her mother she wanted to look around the house herself. Her mother said that if she needed anything she would be upstairs. Once her mother was gone, Zeppelin ran to the back of the house to the family room. There were three windows on one wall and two on another, a bookcase between them. In one corner a shaggy couch sat alone. The bare wall was where the tower subsisted. Zeppelin went over to the bookcase and browsed through the ancient books. There were some biographies on people she had never even heard of, atlases, a book about the sun, and books that were so worn out you couldn't tell what they were.

Zeppelin thought about the window. There was a sun on it and one of the books was about the sun. Put them together and one gets an entrance to the tower. She almost laughed at the idea of a secret passage. Almost. She snatched the book off the shelf from its spot and held it in her left hand. Zeppelin then placed her right hand were the book once sat. At the back of the bookcase was a small hole. Zeppelin peeked through and saw nothing of any interest; it was just the wall behind the bookcase. She placed the book back on the shelf and tried to muse another way to unlock the 'secret passage'.

"I didn't know you liked old books." Zeppelin spun around to find her mother in the doorway.

"I sure do, mom."

Mrs. Sims moved closer to her daughter and asked, "Remember what I told you? You have to stay here for a few days when I go back to get the last few boxes, ok?"

"Yeah, yeah. I won't open the door to creepers and I'll stay inside most of the day like a vampire and rot my mind by reading old books." She put a hand on her hip.

"There is food in the fridge and you have money, a phone… oh, and your room has a sleeping bag in it."Her mother kissed Zeppelin on the forehead, walked out the doorway and down the hall to the front door. This wasn't unusual for Zeppelin to be home alone. Since her father had passed she started to become more independent and was left home alone most of the week. Her mother would occasionally have to go out of town for work and Zeppelin would either stay at home, or go to a friend's house.

When she heard the door close and the car drive off, Zeppelin began her mission. She looked at every square inch of the bookcase, top, sides, bottom, inside. Nothing. She hesitated at first to lie on the floor to get a look underneath but she wasn't going give up now. It's better to finish what one started. When she looked under she saw a door in the floor. It was small and a rusted handle was attached in the center. Zeppelin sprung up and quickly made it over to the left of the bookcase.

She leaned her back against it and tried to shove it off of the door. It took her a few minutes to move the bookcase about a quarter of the way. She let out a long sigh and plopped onto the floor. Thunder was now becoming audible in the distance and a flash of lightning lit up the room. 'Might be dumb to go in the tower now… oh well.'

She got up on her feet, and again, tried to move the bookcase. Almost ten minutes was what it took to get it off the door. She kneeled down and noticed something that was a bit odd. A cool breeze came from underneath. Zeppelin grabbed the handle and lifted the door up revealing a dark tunnel, one that had no end to it, or more so that's how it appeared. She was about to jump in when her cell phone began to ring.

"Alo?" She started to fiddle with her curls, every second she was becoming more impatient.

"I forgot to tell you something sweetie." Zeppelin dropped her hand to her side and sighed, "What is it?"

"The movers will be coming with our furniture tommorow, ok?"

"Yup. See ya." Zeppelin snapped the phone shut and shoved it back into her pocket while she glanced over the edge of the dreary entrance. Zeppelin took a deep breathe before plummeting into total darkness. When her eyes adjusted to the sudden change, she turned on a flashlight from her phone to navigate herself in the dark. The floor was just dirt, and it appeared no one had been down there in years. Every step she took caused dirt to fly up into her face, putting her in a coughing fit.

She eventually found a staircase and began to make her way up, happy to get out of the dirt. The steps were worrying her about falling but fortunately there was a railing on each side attached to the aging red brick. She would occasionally look down and hop over the steps that were crumpling and cracked. All she needed was to take one wrong step and fall. She stopped for a second and looked at the time on the phone. It was already four o'clock. 'I'll keep going until five,' she silently thought to herself.

Zeppelin reached the top of the stairs only to find a grey wooden door. She prayed that it wasn't locked. Zeppelin gave a small tug on the handle; the door opened and revealed a small round room. She walked in and on the left was the window that was visible to the front of the house. Her eyes wandered around but it was bare. If something was ever here, someone must have cleared it out long ago. A bit disappointed she began to reach for the doorknob, but something caught her eye. It was a mirror.

The mirror was gingerly placed against the wall beside the door. It looked so beautiful, with the colors from the window bouncing of it, and the rays danced on the grey walls, adding some life to the room. Zeppelin gradually advanced to the mirror to get a better look at the ornate designs. There were swirls and waves on the border, giving it a cloud like appearance, and on the top was a rising sun with clouds floating above.

"So pretty," she whispered. Zeppelin placed her hand on the mirror and looked at her reflection. She saw her fiery red hair, thousands of freckles that adorned her cheeks, and bright green eyes that seemed to have lost the life in them. She was wearing black baggy paints and a dark green tank that hung on her loosely. She never wore makeup and didn't bother to get a tan. Being orange was not something she desired.

There was something about the mirror that amazed and terrified her, all at once. It was so beautifully decorated, someone must have put in a lot of time to make such an amazing piece of art, but when she placed her hand on the mirror it felt like there was an electric current running through the mirror into her.

The strange sensation gave her chills but she did not want to remove her hand. It was like an addiction. Once you start, it's hard to stop. With her free hand, Zeppelin placed it over her neck and felt her hairs standing up. Her heart began to pump faster, and her breathing quickened, so she tore her hand off the mirror; the electric current was gone almost instantly. She tilted her head and stared at the mirror in wonder. She backed up slowly and gave the mirror one more look before she walked through the doorway.

She took half the time to get down the stairs as it did to get up. When Zeppelin finally reached the end of the tunnel, and made it back up through the trap door, she didn't put the bookcase over it, she saw no point in doing so. Zeppelin strolled into the kitchen and flicked the lights on. They came on slowly and were dim. 'Damn this house.'

She walked to the fridge and browsed for anything she could make in a few minutes, the best she could do was a grilled cheese sandwich. She gathered her ingredients and set them on the counter next to the gas stove. She placed a pan over the flame and once it warmed up, she cut a slice of butter and threw it in. When it melted Zeppelin placed a slice of bread down, cheese, and a final piece of bread over the gooey cheese. She let the bread cook in the butter and once it became a golden brown she turned off the gas and looked for a plate.

Zeppelin found them in the cabinet to the left of the stove. She slid the sandwich off the pan and onto the plate. Zeppelin could either sit on the floor, or stand. After one glance down, she decided standing was her best bet. She shivered at the thought of what was on the floor, and even worse was she was going to sleep there. Suddenly, crawling out from under the counters was a spider, bringing back memories when she was little.

"_What's wrong curly-Q?"Her father questioned the frightened ginger._

"_Th-there's a s-spider in my room!"Zeppelin shrieked._ _Her father smiled, took her hand and lead the way back to her room. _

_He opened the door and asked, "Where's the big bad spider?"_ _Zeppelin led him to her bed and pointed a shaking finger at her fluffy, white pillow. The spider laid there as if he was enjoying the unusual spot he never had had before. _

_"Squish him!"_

"_Squish him? Why would you want me to do that?" He placed his hand next to the spider, allowing it to crawl into his palm. As he walked to the window to let it out, Zeppelin turned pale. __Her father turned around, "Spiders do more good than harm for people. Like any creature it deserves respect and to live."_

Zeppelin sat on the floor and silently ate her meal, forgetting why she refused to in the first place. She listened for any signs of life but the only sound that she could hear was the howling wind. "Creepy."

She was utterly alone. After cleaning up her dinner mess she walked up the stairs and began the search for her room. There was only one hallway. The stairs spitted the hall up into two sections; four bedrooms to the left and three to the right. The windows on both ends of the hall helped brighten up the cramped space, along with the lighting that was hung on the walls. The walls were painted a pale yellow, and the floors were newly exposed hardwood.

Zeppelin remembered her mom mentioning that the old carpeting was removed and that they were lucky hardwood floors were underneath. Finding her room was a bit of a challenge. After searching all four rooms to the left, she found her bedroom down the other end, and of course, it was the last one. It was plain. The walls were white and there was more hardwood. Disappointed, Zeppelin left her room in a huff and went in search of the bathroom next which, luckily, was next-door.

The bathroom was also updated and was very cozy, unlike her room. The walls were painted a cream and there were already a few necessities laid out on the counter. Already tired of looking around, she closed the door and walked to the window at the end of the hall. She placed her hands on the cold glass and looked up into the sky. The sun would still be out if only the clouds did not cover it up. It was only a few minutes past six o'clock but it looked like the middle of the night. She took her hands off the window and placed them into her pockets with a sigh.

Back in the family room, Zeppelin looked for anything that could help pass the time. She came across the book on the sun in the same spot she found it in. Even from the distance she was from the door, and the bookcase blocking it slightly, she could still feel the cold draft. Zeppelin drummed her fingers on the ground, wondering if she should go back. No one would ever know but… did it even matter? As far as anyone knew there was no way into the tower. She took in a deep breathe and swung the door open, a gush of wind swirling her hair around fiercely. It was a piece of cake to reach the top for Zeppelin, for she already memorized which steps were safe. She kept one hand on the railing and the other held the book. When the door came into view, she heard shuffling of feet and glass breaking. Her heart sunk into the pit of her stomach.

"Tobi, what did you do, un?" Zeppelin threw a hand over her mouth and ducked down onto the stairs.

"N-nothing! Tobi is a good boy!" the voice squeaked.

"Tobi, are you lying to us?" A voice asked calmly.

"No! Honest!" the one called Tobi stated. There was a long and painful silence in the room, making Zeppelin cringe.

The wind was the only one making any sound at all until someone, a girl, said, "Pein, what should we do?" This 'Pein' thought for a second.

"We will see were the door leads, it could possibly lead the way back to the base." Others in the room mumbled their agreement and suddenly footsteps echoed all around Zeppelin. She turned around and dashed down the stairs as quickly and quietly as possible. She was barely halfway down when she stepped on a crumbling stone and shrieked as she fell, the book flew out of her hands and landed on a step below.

When she got up she heard someone say, "What the fuck was that?" No one answered but someone's pace quickened, Zeppelin quickened her own pace as well and ran to the exit. She stood on a large stone and climbed out of the darkness and swiftly set the door down. She knew she didn't have time to block the exit and hide. Hiding was the smartest thing she could do at the moment. She could call the police when they pass her or make a quick getaway. Zeppelin sat in the corner of the wall behind the couch, listening for the sound of footsteps. It took her a moment to realize she was not alone. Only one person stood in the room with her. They walked to the center and gazed down the hallway. She peeked around the couch to get a better look.

They wore a black cloak with a high collar, decorated with red clouds, outlined in white. The intruder had a silver hair and a red scythe he held in one hand. Zeppelin held her breath when they turned around, but they didn't even notice her hiding behind the couch, even though she was a bit obvious. "I don't see anyone."

"Someone is here. They couldn't have made it very far." Another man stepped up into the room and stood in front of the man with the scythe. He, too, wore the cloak but had a mask covering his face and was taller than the first guy. "I'm going to search upstairs. Wait for the others to come." The one with silver hair didn't answer and stayed where he was as the man with the mask left the room. He looked back at the tunnel entrance and out popped another.

"Need any help Hidan, un?"

"I don't need your fucking help." He seemed bored, just lazily looking around and his fingers twitched every now and then. Suddenly, almost out of nowhere, a redhead approached the blonde and Hidan.

"Deidara, Hidan, where is Kakuzu?" the other ginger asked.

"Upstairs, un." The one Zeppelin thought was Deidara pointed up. The redhead crossed his arms and said, "There's no point. The one we seek is right here." He turned around to face Zeppelin. "Hello." The one named Hidan inched his way closer to the redhead.

When he made eye contact with the girl he blurted out, "What the fuck are you doing here?" Zeppelin froze and did not dare move. Maybe if she was lucky, REALLY lucky, it wasn't her they saw, but she knew that was not the case. She shouldn't lie to herself. Now she had to make the decision to either answer them or run. She wasn't stupid. If she chosed to run she would only get caught and possibly be killed and she did not want the movers and her mom to find her remains scattered across the room. She slowly rose to her feet, all eyes on her. Zeppelin gripped the couch in front of her so she would not faint.

It was difficult to form words but she managed a meek, "I l-live h-here." She cursed herself for her stutter.

"There's nothing here, un." stated the blonde.

"Well yeah, we just moved here," she said a bit louder and without a stutter. No one responded but Deidara and Hidan were pulled back into the tunnel by the redhead. Zeppelin went to the center of the room and just stared at the floor. She watched the masked man, possibly Kakuzu, walk to the tunnel. Not once did he look back at Zeppelin, he just acted like she wasn't there. After he jumped down the group began to chatter softly to each other.

"Are we going to stay here Pein?"

"What are we to do about the girl?"

**"We could just kill her."**

"No. She is no threat to us and we don't know where we are or how to get back. She might be of some use. Do not harm her. Is that clear?" Zeppelin was thinking the one who just spoke must have been the leader. She could only hope they would listen. Wait a second, why was she just standing here? This was her chance to get away!

She turned on her heal and, like a bat out of hell, ran to the front door. She made the first turn, passing up the kitchen. Down the hall she went, pass the dining room, almost to the stairs, then the front door slowly came into view and her heart almost stopped. Zeppelin might have a chance. She stretched her arm out, trying to grasp the doorknob when she suddenly ran into something huge and blue. She had almost lost her footing when it started to laugh. It wasn't so much as a dark and cruel chuckle, but it seemed honestly amused. Zeppelin looked through her tangled mass of hair up at whoever it was. Well, he was most certainly blue, and shark like. He had rows of gills on both cheeks and razor sharp teeth, and to even add his alikeness to a shark he had eyes like one.

"Don't think we're gonna let you get away now." Zeppelin steadily backed away, only to run into someone else. She spun around and came face to face with a man who had blood red eyes. He appeared to be much younger than the blue man. His jet-black hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, loose hair falling onto his face, and had pronounced tear troughs beneath his eyes. Zeppelin just stared, so unsure of what she should do. He, on the other hand, never even glanced her way. His attention was directed at his partner.

"Kisame, take her back to the room. Don't let her slip past you." The blue man, called Kisame, looked more than displeased with his response. He hastily grabbed Zeppelin's shoulders and pushed her forward, occasionally making her barely miss colliding into a wall.

The first person she saw in the room was a man with spiky orange hair who had many piercings on his face. His most distinguishing feature was his grey eyes. The woman next to him had blue hair, with a white paper flower tucked neatly in her bun on top of her head. She was very beautiful and seemed to be close to the man with piercings.

The next group had the redhead and blonde. Zeppelin knew the blonde was called Deidara. His hair was pulled up into a ponytail, his side bang covering one side of his face, and he had the brightest and bluest eyes she had ever seen. He, too, looked very young, just like the one with black hair, and so did his partner. Deidara's partner had hair just as red a Zeppelin's and had heavy-lidded eyes that slightly hid them, but one could tell they were a deep shade of brown.

The third group consisted of Hidan and Kakuzu. Hidan had silver hair, violet eyes, and a dirty mouth, as Zeppelin realized, if he was agitated or dumbfounded. Zeppelin would never swear, out loud at least, and neither did her parents. Hidan carried a red scythe and his cloak wasn't closed all the way like his comrades. Kakuzu's appearance was most intriguing. He wore a mask over the lower half of his face and his eyes reminded Zeppelin of Christmas; they were red and green.

The final group had a man with an orange mask that reminded Zeppelin of a lollipop. He didn't wear a cloak and had spiky black hair. Zeppelin noticed he had a hard time standing still because he was constantly swaying in his spot. The one next to him scared Zeppelin a bit. His left side was white and the other was black. His eyes glowed yellow, his hair was a bright green, and he was surrounded by something that resembled a venus fly-trap. He was someone you couldn't help but stare at.

"What is your name?" Zeppelin faced the man with orange hair. She doesn't answer him. He became impatient with her silence and walked up to her, a kunai in his hand. He holds it at her throat and repeats the question. "What is your name?"

"Zeppelin Sims."

"That's your name?" Lollipop boy asked.

"Yeah." She loved the originality of her name but hated it at the same time. People would call her Zippy when she was younger, even her father made the same mistake. She noted that it wasn't as bad as Zipper. She only could wonder how people come up with such nicknames.

"Where are we?" The man asked. Zeppelin hesitated at first. There was nothing she could do now. It was best to just to answer them to buy her some time.

"I think I should be asking the questions here." The orange haired man lowers the kunai. "Who are you? I told you my name." She wanted to test them, see how much they would tell her. If they really were stuck here they would have to trust her, or pretend to, right? If they were faking, they wouldn't be able to keep this up for too long.

"You did but we won't tell you ours, un. You don't need to know," Deidara said. Zeppelin looked him in the eye. She would have gone over herself if Kisame released her, but he gave no hint of letting her go anytime soon.

"Your name is Deidara, right?" He didn't answer and so she looked over at Hidan. "You're Hidan, and that's Kakuzu." She stated as she looked at the masked man next to him. Zeppelin turned her attention over to the orange haired man and waited for him to respond. His expression calmed and he said, "You can call me Pein."

"I'm Sasori." Zeppelin was surprised the redhead told her himself. She nodded her head to let him know she heard him, and then she looked over at the one with the orange mask and the plant man.

"I'm Tobi!" He hopped over in front of her and took her by the hand. He dragged her behind him to the plant man, "And this is Mr. Zetsu!"

**"Zetsu."** He growled.

Tobi introduced Zeppelin to Kisame and Itachi. Neither man spoke but they did bow their heads slightly. When they walked over to Hidan and Kakuzu they just looked down at her, belittling her, making her feel small. She wanted to go crawl into a hole and never come out. He brought her back over to Pein and introduced her to the woman with blue hair.

"This is Konan!" Konan just looked up from the ground.

Tobi ran back to his spot and Pein said, "Now that you know us, you shouldn't have problem with answering our questions." Zeppelin tried to protest but he raised a hand. "Where are we?"

"My house." The corners of his lips curled down into a frown.

"Can you elaborate?"

"Well…You're in Pennsylvania." He still seemed a bit clueless but hid it well.

"We will need a place to stay while we investigate more of what has occurred."

"I found some empty rooms upstairs."Zeppelin turned her head. It was Kakuzu, the one who searched upstairs earlier. 'So that's what he was doing….' She just wanted to die now. For all she knew they could be the creepers her mom had warned her about and she was more than uncomfortable of the thought of having complete strangers in her house.

"Um… excuse me?" Everyone's eyes shifted toward her. "You can't stay here," she began. Pein just raised a brow at her. For the first time in a while she truly felt nervous. "Well…." Not being able to hold it in anymore she blurted out everything that was going through her mind. "I'm sorry but do you really expect me, all alone for a who knows how long, to just let random people, who show up in my house, stay while they figure out what supposedly happened? You'll probably just kill me," she said gesturing to the small teams, "no matter what he tells you!"

When she looked back at Pein, did she see him smile? A smirk? "I can understand how you feel but I assure you that we won't cause you any harm. Just think of it as our way of thanking you for allowing us a place to stay and an extra hand to help." Otherwise she was toast, right? Hey, wait a second….

"Help you?" Zeppelin asked.

"That's right."

"But-," She had no idea how they got up there. Not a clue. She would be of no use to them, just in their way. How could she help them? After escaping her thoughts she found them heading up the stairs to the empty rooms. Zeppelin sighed and showed them the way upstairs and pointed out her room.

"Don't go in there, please. There might not be anything there but it is still my room." Pein stepped forward.

"We understand that you would want your privacy."

"Right… there is the bathroom," she pointed to the small room next-door. "There is another one down the other end. Everything else is bedrooms. Oh, you have to share rooms. Remember that you can only stay up here for tonight." She walked into her doorway but stopped when she remembered one more thing. "By the way, there are no beds yet so you will have to sleep on the floor." Zeppelin closed her door and locked it immediately. Over at her window she looked up at the night sky. The storm had passed and the moon shined brightly. Shaking her head she asked herself, 'What have I got myself into?'

* * *

E/N: Hello :) if you made it this far then it mean you have finished reading chapter one (or you cheated and went to see what was at the bottom). I am the "editor" for Ryuu22. My name is Getsu Nichi, but Getsu is just fine. If you have spotted any mistakes or something that does not make sense and needs to be changed please PM me and I will try to get to it ASAP. I hope you enjoyed the story so far ^^

A/N:Alo! That was my editor! She has agreed to help edit this story (and give me ideas). I hope you enjoyed chapter one and hope everyone will be patient for the next chapter. It will take a while for me and Getsu to get chapter two out but we will get it out A.S.A.P! Hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

The Mirror

Chapter Two

* * *

When Zeppelin woke from her slumber she could hear someone snoring. They were so loud; they sounded close by. Lying on the ground in her sleeping bag, she turned toward the opposite wall, grumbling to herself, where the noise was coming from and saw Tobi sleeping right next to her.

Zeppelin screamed on the top of her lungs and jumped up toward her window. The rustling of sheets and the thrashing of feet became audible as everyone got up to see what was wrong. Hidan was swearing in the distance. A few seconds later there was a knock on the door and someone asked calmly, "Are you alright?" It was Itachi. Zeppelin could also hear a, "Does she has to be this loud in the morning?" soon afterward.

She quickly composed herself before she muttered that she was ok. A few murmurs and then the noise ceased. Now she had to do something about Tobi.

She tapped him on the shoulder and he just flipped over on to his side so he was facing away from her. Zeppelin, becoming increasingly impatient, shook him as hard as she could. He tossed and turned before he slowly sat up. He stretched out his arms over his head, stifled a yawn, and turned around to look at her.

"Good morning!" He said with a smile in his voice.

Zeppelin scowled. "I asked all of you not come in here!" Her normally pale face was now flushed a pale pink. Her fists were clenched and she was grinding her teeth together.

"T-Tobi is sorry. Tobi didn't know where he could sleep." You may not be able to see Tobi's emotions on his face but one could easily detect them in his voice and right now he sounded hurt.

Zeppelin sighed. She lost her steam. "It's ok. Just... find somewhere else to sleep tonight, ok?" Tobi nodded and laid back down.

Zeppelin thought for a moment. "Tobi?" She called out quietly.

"Hm?"

"How did you get in here? The door is locked." He remained silent. After almost a minute, Zeppelin thought that maybe he had fallen back asleep, so she decided go downstairs to see if it was still there. As she put a hand on the doorknob, getting ready to turn it, Tobi suddenly appeared next to her.

He grabbed hold of one of her shoulders, shoved it back, and forced her to look at him. When he spoke his voice changed. It was lower than the normal Tobi's voice and just the sound of it gave the room a whole different vibe. Zeppelin shivered.

"It will be our little secret. Ok?" At that moment, he was not Tobi. At that moment, Zeppelin was truly frightened of him. She could only stare up into his swirled mask as thoughts passed through her mind. One was to get away, right then and there. Soon her whole mind was consumed by the thought. When she snapped out of her trance, she jerked her shoulder away and scrambled out the door. Zeppelin did not look back.

When Zeppelin arrived downstairs, she peeked into the kitchen's doorway and found all but Tobi, Pein and Konan present. Hidan and Deidara were searching through the fridge, sometimes pulling out something to see what it was, Kakuzu was reading one of the old books, probably trying to ignore the others, Sasori, Itachi and Kisame were talking to each other by the pantry and Zetsu was in the far left corner of the room all by himself.

Sasori was the only one to notice Zeppelin at the door. He sauntered over to her and said, "Good morning. I thought you would never get up."

Puzzled, she tilted her head to the side and asked, "What do you mean? It's not that late." He pointed at the clock on the stove which read 8:07 in bright green. Zeppelin's heart felt like it skipped a beat. She dashed down the hall to the front door and saw the movers' truck already in the driveway being unloaded. Zeppelin hustled back howling, "You have to hide! The movers are here and I can't let them see you!"

"And why not, un?" Deidara asked while slamming the fridge's door.

"Just go into the tower, but I'll need someone to help me push the bookcase back into place. I won't be able to move it back fast enough by myself." She waited for someone to volunteer and when no one offered she picked on Zetsu.

"All right, I'll help-"

"**- but where do I go when I'm done helping you, girl?"**

Zeppelin could have sworn she heard two different voices come from the man. Two voices. One man. It did not add up. She mentally shook the thought away and answered, "I'm not so sure…."

"We could stay in the backyard…"

"… **but only until the movers leave."**

"Ok, ok. Everyone else, please, go to the tower!" She motioned them to leave and one by one they exited the kitchen to the family room.

Kakuzu kneeled down next to the tunnel door and swung it open. The doorbell rung. They all looked at her before they made their way down into the dark. Occasionally someone might glare at her, before jumping down, for making them do this but she really did have no choice. Once they were all in the tunnel, Zeppelin and Zetsu shut the door.

The doorbell rung again and then a mover bellowed, "Anyone here?"

"Just a second!" Zeppelin shouted back.

Zetsu was able to push the bookcase back into place by himself with ease.** "Is that all you needed help with?"**

"I'll need help moving it off the door later but right now you gotta hide!"

"I heard you the first time."He took his time going through the backdoor and as soon as it closed Zeppelin sprinted to the front. When she opened the front door she saw one of the workers leaning against the railing looking displeased with the amount of time it took her to answer the door.

"We need you to show us where to put everything."

"O-ok."

This process took a few hours only because it was humid out and early in the morning, thus everyone was a bit sluggish. Zeppelin and her mother didn't own much, making it hard to believe it took them that long to move it all, but now since their new house was three times bigger it seemed to be even less.

As she showed the movers where to place the boxes she began to worry about a certain someone who was still in her room.

"I have to go check something upstairs." Zeppelin walked out of the family room to the staircase. She looked up and carefully listened for any of the movers. When she knew there was none else up there she quickly made her way to her room, trying to stay light on her feet.

Not much of a surprise to her, she found Tobi still sleeping in the middle of the floor in her room. He did not show any signs of getting up any time soon.

"Tobi!" He didn't even twitch.

Zeppelin slowly approached him, still a bit startled from their earlier encounter, kneeled down, and gently shook his shoulder with the tips of her fingers. Luckily, he started to wake up. She was pleased that it was easier to do a second time. "You need to get out of the house but you can't use the stairs," she said hoping he heard her.

Tobi jumped up. "That's not a problem for Tobi!"

"Well, that's good..." Remembering that she didn't have the time to chat she pointed to the door, "Now hide!"

"Ok!" Tobi lurked out the bedroom door, Zeppelin not far behind, staying as close to the wall and shadows as he possibly could, to one of the windows at the end of the hall. He unlocked it and pushed it open. Tobi leaped onto the windowsill and looked down for a moment.

"What are you going to do?" He remained silent. Tobi turned his head slightly and she bet, underneath his mask, he was beaming. He suddenly leaped out of the window, into the air, arms out wide, and plummeted on to the roof, landing perfectly. How he did it she would never know. The roof slanted into an abrupt slope and, because of the recent rainfall, it was sleek. Most would have lost their footing and fall to their untimely death but Tobi just raised his arm and gave her a thumbs up to show her he was ok.

Still a bit dazed and flabbergasted, Zeppelin jolted her head out the window and shouted, "You're such an ass! Why the hell did you do that?" Wait, did she just... swear? Zeppelin never swore so for those foul profanities to escape her unsoiled lips made her forget all about Tobi's sudden outburst of stupidity. She made a mental note to wash her mouth out later.

"Tobi is ok! Tobi is going to look for Mr. Zetsu!" Tobi skipped into the thicket that seemed to surround the entire house.

Zeppelin extracted her head back into the house and closed the window with a sigh. When she turned herself around to glance down the hall, she saw two guys holding parts for her bed, brows raised slightly. Her face began to redden at the thought of them seeing her yelling out the window, supposedly to no one. She directed them to her bedroom, trying to act as if nothing happened.

They started to put the bed together once they were in the room but she told them that she would get it later and to just make sure everything is unloaded. They looked over at each other and then back at her. Agreeing, they walked out of the bedroom.

"I don't think they will stay in hiding for much longer…" she mumbled to herself. She couldn't blame them though. No one likes to be locked up and one does tend to get a bit restless after awhile.

She scolded herself for thinking such things. The sooner they left the better. She could not keep concerning their comfort and welfare.

* * *

When all the movers had left, Zeppelin went outside to search for Tobi and Zetsu. The air was moist from the high humidity and it was cloudy, giving everything a strange grayish tone.

She slowly approached the woods, paying close attention to the noises around her. But it was quite, no birds were chirping, no wind was howling, only the sound of her stepping onto the fallen foliage. Then, all at once, she heard two quick snaps of a tree branch. She came to an abrupt halt and did not dare move.

She called out, almost desperately, "Tobi! Zetsu! Is that you? " She listened for any movement but there was nothing. She took a deep breathe before running even further, deeper into the woods, her heart pounding in her ears. Zeppelin only stopped because of a huge tree that blocked her path.

She moseyed on over to it, circled it, and stared in awe at the tree's stature. Everything, though, about it was breathtaking. The trunk was unharmed by the years it has been here. There were no signs of any limbs ever breaking, animals burying themselves deep within or scars on the bark. The leaves were so green, smooth, and felt like a layer of wax was smeared across its surface. Zeppelin was so fixated on the ancient plant; she did not realize all the sounds around her.

Small animals scurried across the ground, birds cawed up in the trees, and bugs could be heard buzzing. It was not as quite as she first thought, instead the trees held an abundance of life. Then a twig snapped, bringing her back to reality. She spun around when another one splintered. This time it was closer. Her breathing became labored and her feet froze dead in its tracks.

After calming down a bit she called out, "Who's there?" She raised her fist to defend herself if needed. Another twig gave in under the weight of something. Zeppelin turned around, swinging her fist, and came face to face someone who had striking orange hair. Pein. He swiftly dodged the punch.

"W-where…How?" Thinking back to this morning, she recalled never seeing him and Konan come down. Zeppelin realized her hand was still in the air so she listlessly put it down to her side.

"Do you... know where...Konan, Tobi, and Zetsu... are?" Zeppelin said in between a series of pants still trying to calm down.

"Konan is in the house. I don't know where Tobi and Zetsu are but I think we should just let them find their way back to the house themselves," he said smoothly.

Zeppelin nodded. When he turned around she thought of something that was beginning to agitate her and without thinking blurted it out.

"Where have you been?" In stead of just asking, she almost screamed it at him. Zeppelin threw a hand over her mouth and bit down on her bottom lip.

He stopped and slowly turned around. "That is none of your concern." The look in his eyes made it seem that, if you gazed too long in them, you would turn to dust. He continued his way back to the house, as if nothing had happened. Zeppelin stood there, a bit uncertain if she should do the same, but followed behind anyway, trying to stay hidden from his eyes.

Not paying attention to her surroundings was probably one of the most idiotic things she could have done at that moment. She ran into something. Well, more like _someone_.

"Zeppelin!" She is glomped by a man in an orange mask. He held onto tightly, constricting her breathing and Zeppelin was beginning to feel lightheaded.

"T-Tobi I c-can't-" she gasped. "Breathe!" Tobi's grip loosened only a bit.

"Tobi missed you! Tobi thought he would never find you!" He released Zeppelin, at last.

When her breathing returned to normal, for the second time that day, Tobi approached Zeppelin asking where Pein was. Zeppelin pointed a few feet ahead of them without even glancing up. Tobi briskly took her hand and skipped over to where his leader was, ignoring the girl behind him who was trying her best to pull him back.

"Hi Pein!" Tobi said as cheerful as ever.

"Where have you been?" Pein look displeased. His lip was curling down and his brows were furrowed.

"Mr. Zetsu and I wanted to explore a bit!"

"**Don't include me." **Zetsu growled from behind.

Zeppelin released herself from Tobi's grip and slipped away into the trees. She started to head in the general direction of her home when she spotted Zetsu and decided it would be best to stick with someone. Her sense of direction wasn't always the best.

Zetsu continued walking until he felt her eyes focus on him. He looked down at her.** "What?"**

Zeppelin didn't realize she was staring. "I was just thinking- you know about- how is it- how you survive with Tobi," she stuttered. "I mean he's just so hyperactive and bubbly when you're…" She averted her eyes and tried to come up with a way to phrase her sentence.

"The opposite?"

"Yeah."

They continued their walk next to each other in silence. The house wasn't far ahead and Tobi and Pein were already walking catching up. She called back to them, asking if they could hurry up. She let out a sigh and quickly made her way into the kitchen.

"We are in here!" Tobi answered. Zeppelin walked into the family room and saw Pein shoving the bookcase off the door. She did a double take; she looked behind her and even looked out the back door and then looked in the family room again. How did they…?

Tobi waved a hand in her face. "Let's get the others together!" Zeppelin nodded and together they walk over to the trap door. When Zeppelin looked down she began to back away slowly, shaking her head. "What is it Zeppelin?" Tobi asked.

"I'm not going to jump down; I'll loose all feeling in my feet. Someone moved the rock that was there."

"That's ok! Tobi will carry you!" Before she even had the chance to answer, he scooped her up into his arms and jumped down into the hole, or as Zeppelin liked to call it, the black pit. As they were falling, Zeppelin was death gripping his arms and Tobi laughed.

"You ok?" Zeppelin frowned at him and started to bang her fists on his chest. He was making her seem like a scared little kid. He put her down gently and she stumbled away, not wanting to be anywhere near him.

She put her hand in her pocket and looked for her cell phone. When she found it, she tuned the light on. She didn't want to trip and fall, giving Tobi the idea that he needed to hold her again.

Tobi stared at the device in wonder. "What is that?"

"It's my cell phone. Come on," she said, taking a step forward, "we better hurry up." They walked side-by-side up to the tower and stopped only when they reached the door. It was quiet in the room, except for the occasional pant or murmer.

"Are they… sleeping?"

"Not all of them." He answered.

"How do you know? Are ya Santa or something?"

"Huh?" Tobi tilted his head.

"Never mind."

Zeppelin reached out for the door knob and twisted her wrist. The door squeaked loudly and when she looked in more than half of them were wide awake. Only Deidara and Hidan were sound asleep.

"How was the nap?" No one answered and Zeppelin let out a long sigh. "You can come down now."

One by one they stood up and kicked the ones who were still asleep. Kakuzu seemed quite pleased doing so.

"What the fuck was that for Kakuzu?" shouted the angry immortal.

"You can go downstairs now," he calmly told Hidan.

"Oh…" He slowly made it to his feet, stretched, and followed Kakuzu out the door.

Itachi walked over to the window and looked out into the front yard. Zeppelin let him be, that is until she was about to leave. She asked him what he was looking at but he did not answer, so Zeppelin came up behind him, peeked through the window and looked down on the front lawn. Above in the sky, it was still cloudy.

"I'm just looking," he said faintly.

"Oh. Why don't you come downstairs with the rest of your buddies?"

"Buddies?" he challenged.

Realizing her blunder she added, a bit too quickly, "Yeah, I mean, you all seem _so very close._"

The corner of Itachi's mouth slightly curled up. "Close indeed."

He stepped away from the window over to the door. He held it open for Zeppelin and, after she walked out, he gently closed it behind them.

"Watch your step," he warned.

"Don't worry; I have a flashlight on my phone." She pulled said phone out from her pocket and flipped it open. The screen glowed with the image of her car on it and she smiled to herself.

After who knows how long, she found what she was looking for in the settings. The light blinded her for only a second but soon her eyes became adjusted. She held the phone in front of herself and began to walk down the steps as carefully and steadily as she could. She looked back to see how Itachi was doing and saw him following without breaking a sweat.

Light came into view at the end of the tunnel as they reached the bottom of the steps. Voices were discernible, but what they said exactly was unknown to Zeppelin. Itachi passed her up and pulled himself up into the room above. Almost when she thought she was trapped down there, he held a hand out for Zeppelin; she took it and was lifted out from underground.

"Thanks," she said while brushing herself off.

Itachi nodded and stepped back next to Kisame. Zeppelin looked around and saw everyone looking at her.

* * *

She knew that they had to leave; who knows how much longer her mother would be gone? She was also beginning to miss her solitude. But how should she tell them?

"Excuse me, um- I don't mean to be rude- but… you need to leave. Now." Some of their expressions hardened, especially Pein's. She just wanted to crawl back into the hole.

Pein lingered over to Zeppelin saying, "We are staying here." When he was too close for comfort he crossed his arms and just stared at her.

Zeppelin mimicked him. "No, you're not. If I say you gotta go, you gotta go!" She could barely get the words out but maybe if she held her ground they would listen. It was always worth a try. But in this case, it wasn't even worth to attempt.

Pein's eyes narrowed and he stepped even closer.

"Don't tell me what to do," he said emphasizing every syllable. "If we were to leave, we would have to dispose of you. You realize that, don't you? " Zeppelin held her breath and stepped back as far as she could but she, regretfully, backed up into a wall. A bead of sweat ran down her face onto her chin. She couldn't stop her shaking hands and the awful feeling she felt deep within her. She couldn't breathe. Couldn't see. Couldn't think. It felt like the whole world crashed down onto her and she felt like curling up into a ball and dying.

Pein opened his mouth, about to speak, when Hidan yelled, "Can we eat? I didn't have breakfast or lunch!" The voice sounded strangely muffled to Zeppelin.

Her eyes flew open. She realized she slipped down the wall to the ground; legs curled up to her chest, and had the palms of her hands covering her ears. When she looked up, she saw that Pein was gone. Her nightmare, for the moment, was over.

Zeppelin slowly ascended to her feet. "Um… what do you… want?" She couldn't help feel a bit irritated for him asking such a thing at a time like that, but it was because of him Pein stopped. Maybe cooking could help put her mind at ease.

"I dunno," he shrugged. "Just make something, Zipper." Zeppelin wanted to grab a baseball bat and beat him senseless.

"Don't call me Zipper please."

He smirked. "Zipper." She opened her mouth but no words came out. She couldn't think of a good enough comeback and it probably wouldn't bug him anyway, so why bother? "That's what I thought, Zipper. Now just make something for us to eat."

She went to the kitchen in a huff to begin making dinner. Zeppelin opened the fridge and glanced over at the oven clock. It read 6:39. She, too, didn't eat and it was beginning to affect her. She began to rummage through the fridge in search of something decent and, more importantly, edible to make for the large and demanding group.

There wasn't much food left and she knew if she was to make something there would be nothing for herself. It's not like they would make sure she had something to eat.

She took out her phone, flipped it open, and looked through her contacts list for her mother's number. She selected it can waited for her to pick up.

"Hello?" answered her mother on the second ring.

"Where are you? I thought you'd be back by now."

"The drive took us two days to get to the border of Pennsylvania, so I haven't been that long."

"Oh, right… Where are you now?" She began to twirl a curl around her finger.

"I'm at a motel in Illinois right now. Sorry, I have to go for now. I love you."

"Love ya too. Bye." She gently closed the phone and looked down at the kitchen floor. Zeppelin missed her mom's company. Even though they might get under each other's skin, they did understand one another. No one else could the way her mom did, but she would never admit that out loud.

"Is everything alright?" Zeppelin lifted her head to the door and saw Konan standing there. She walked over to Zeppelin asking, "Did something happen?"

"Everything's fine. I just need to go to the store to get some groceries."

"I'll have to go with you."

Zeppelin knew she wouldn't be able to leave the house without an escort. She said Konan could come but needed to put on something different, so Zeppelin ran upstairs to her mom's room and found a box of her clothes by the window. She opened it up and searched through for something Konan could borrow. She picked a white blouse that buttoned down in the front, a plain black jacket that cut off just above the hip and dark wash jeans.

Zeppelin took the clothes to the bathroom and placed them on the counter. She called Konan to come upstairs and waited for a minute or to until she came into view down the hall.

"I put your clothes in there. I'll be downstairs at the front door." Konan nodded, walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

At the bottom of the stairs she saw that the others were sitting on the living room floor, holding conversations with each other, or taking a nap. She didn't see Pein and began to worry what he could be up to.

"Don't stay out long; many of us can become very impatient." Zeppelin whirled around to find Pein at the top of the stairs. The way he just popped out of nowhere was really beginning to scare her.

"I can tell. Konan and I will try to be as quick as possible."

"Good." His eyes wandered to something behind him. Zeppelin tilted her head scooted over to see what could have caught his attention. Konan passed by him and began to descend the stairs. Pein watched her the whole time.

"Hello Konan." He said.

She stopped to bow and then looked over at Zeppelin. "Are you ready to go?"

Zeppelin nodded. "This way."

Zeppelin and Konan took their time, even after what Pein had told her, walking to the end of the driveway. Zeppelin was about to leave her property but paused in mid step.

"I don't know where the store is exactly but I do remember passing it on the drive here."

"Which way do you think it is?"

Zeppelin thought for a moment. "Well, we came down this road," she pointed to her left, "so let's go down here first." Zeppelin started to walk down the gravel path when Konan grabbed her arm. She looked back and Konan released her.

Konan looked back at the house, up at the tower, and said, "Pein and I have examined the mirror thousands of times and still can't find anything unusual about it. It seems to be an average mirror." Se turned around and faced Zeppelin, "Did you go in that room earlier that day?"

…_when she placed her hand on the mirror it felt like there was an electric current running through the mirror, into Zeppelin._

"Actually… I did. When I placed my hand on the mirror, it felt like electricity ran through the glass." Zeppelin turned back to face the end of the road, continued to walk forward and shoved her hands in her pockets. She listened for Konan to follow but never heard her own feet disturb the stones. Zeppelin looked back and saw that she was gone.

"I'll just get some pizza for now," she told herself. She jogged down the road with her footsteps reverberating off the blacktop, a nice change from the gravel, and a drop of water made her pause. She looked up and saw black clouds overhead. She let out a groan as a car flew past her.

"Wish I had my car…" She kept jogging but it soon became a sprint. Water began to fall heavier from the sky and in a minute Zeppelin was soaked to the bone.

Not watching out for puddles, she accidently slid on the blacktop onto her back. Pain shot up her spine and the wind was knocked out of her, leaving her there stiff as a board. When air reached her lungs, she slowly sat up from the ground, massaging her head, and looked around. No car lights could be seen and the wind began to pick up. The only light source came from the lightning in the distance, followed by thunder making the ground shake under Zeppelin's body.

"This isn't good." She stood up and looked behind her trying to decide what she should do. She decided it was suicide either way and hurried back to the house.

When her house came into view, she continued her way up to the porch. Before she even made it halfway, she saw a figure standing in the middle of her driveway. She stopped a few yards away from them only to realize it was Pein. "We need to talk."

Zeppelin bit her tongue before she could make a snide remark. She nodded her head reluctantly. He didn't move. Pein was waiting for her to pass him so he could follow after her. Apparently, Zeppelin was not trusted.

When they reached the porch, Zeppelin did not open the door immediately. She stood there allowing the freezing rain to make contact with her skin, making her shake violently.

"Open the door." Pein commanded. Without hesitation Zeppelin did as commanded, still not sure why she didn't do it in the first place.

She didn't see anyone right away inside, but Deidara and Tobi looked out from the kitchen doorway when they heard the front door slam shut.

"About time you came back, un."

Before Zeppelin could respond, she was shoved past the kitchen into the living room. As soon as he stopped, she turned around with a quizzical stare.

"Konan told me that you went into the room earlier that day. Am I correct?" he asked.

"You are."

"When you placed your hand on the glass you said it felt like an electrical current."

"Yeah, it did."

He walked over to the nearest window and gazed at the falling rain. "I don't think it was an electrical current you felt. I believe it was chakra." Zeppelin never heard of that word before and became completely lost in their conversation.

"Excuse me but, I think I heard you wrong. Did you say chakra?"

"I did." He turned around and crossed his arms. "I didn't expect you to know what it was." Zeppelin felt her face heat up. He must think she was stupid or something, the way he would talk to her.

"Why did-" He raised a hand, signaling her to remain silent. Without another glance at her, he left the room and, by the sounds of his footsteps, it sounded like he went upstairs. Zeppelin didn't hear him call anyone, but soon she could hear the others, all but Konan, Pein, Deidara, and Tobi, make their way downstairs to the living room.

The first to enter the living room was Tobi. No surprise to Zeppelin.

"What's for dinner? Tobi is getting really hungry."

"You'll see. Just get everyone to wait in here; it might take awhile." Tobi nodded and waited in the hall to direct the others to the family room, while Zeppelin looked through a box in the kitchen for the phone book her mom got on her visit to the town.

She looked through until she found the small pizza restaurant's number. She dialed and waited for someone to answer. When they did, she asked for five large stuff crust pizzas and four liters of soda. She almost had a panic attack at the thought of how much this was going to cost her.

"Your total is $72.36," said the man. Zeppelin wanted to pull her hair out. She only had about two hundred dollars.

"Ok, thank you." She hung up the phone and walked to the doorway. She peeked around the corner and saw everyone, besides Pein and Konan of course, in the living room. She was pleased that they listened to her simple demand, but how long would they going to listen?

Over at the front door, she saw that the rain was lightening up a bit, a good sign in her eyes. She leaned against a wall that was close by and slid down onto the floor. She held her knees close to her and buried her face behind her fiery hair.

"What are ya doing, un?" She looked up and saw the blonde, Deidara, kneeling in front of her. "Well?" So much for them staying in the room.

"Well what? I'm getting you guys' food and spending a lot of my money on it. It's not like I expected to have a group of people invade my house."

He glared. "Do you think we expected to get stuck here, un?"

Zeppelin looked away from the blonde and mumbled, "No…" But they had to have done something. People just don't magically appear in random places but people don't do it on purpose. That kind of stuff never happened.

"Then don't complain, un." Zeppelin covered her face again, trying to ignore him.

Deidara sighed, "I'm going back to the family room." She listened as he walked away, bringing back painful memories.

"_Do you have to go, daddy?" A little five year old Zeppelin asked. _

_Her father smiled sadly and patted her head. "I'm afraid so, sweetie. But don't worry; daddy will be back sooner than you'll know it. And when I do come back," he kneeled down in front of Zeppelin, "We can go to the car show together. Just you and me." He hugged her closely and fat tears rolled down Zeppelin's pink cheeks. _

"Why…?" She asked herself. Teardrops rolled down her cheeks onto the front of her shirt. She wiped them away with the back of her hand and sniffled. 'Why didn't I stop you? Why? It's my fault you're gone…'

Her thoughts are interrupted by the sudden ring of the doorbell. She stood up and wiped her eyes and the remaining tears with the corner of her t-shirt.

She opened the door and the pizza man handed her the sodas first. She placed them in the same spot she was sitting just moments ago and then grabed the pizzas. She staggered a bit and was asked if she needed help carrying them but Zeppelin said she had it. After closing the door with her foot, she slowly inched her way to the kitchen. She couldn't see over the boxes so she had to constantly look at the floor.

"Need help?"

"Sure, take three of these boxes, please." As much as she wanted to try and do it herself, she didn't want to risk dropping over fifty dollars worth of food. When the boxes are taken from her stack, she saw Kisame holding them and thanked him.

"You can set them on the counter." He nodded and walked into the kitchen, with Zeppelin following. She placed her pile next to his and went back to the front door to grab two of the four bottles of soda.

"What is this stuff?" Hidan asked. He tried to pronounce the word on the box. "Pizzazz?" Zeppelin slapped her forehead. 'Moron.'

"No. It is called pizza. **Peet**-s_uh."_

He opens the box and took out a slice. "I knew that, fucking bitch." Zeppelin's eye twitched.

"I'm going to get the rest of the soda."

Everyone was present in the kitchen, all but Zetsu, Sasori, and Pein. She knew Pein would be in the tower but was not sure why the others were missing. Actually, she was surprised Konan was there, she always seemed to be at Pein's side. She shrugged it off and went over to a box that had only one slice left.

She looked around and found a box marked 'plates and cups' in her mother's clumsy handwriting. After setting the slice on the plate, she looked through the other pizza boxes. Only one box was empty, the box she took the last slice from, so she took another two slices from another.

She went up to her bedroom to eat her dinner, in peace, and made sure the door was locked this time. She was facing the door when she heard a clicking noise. She spun around to find Sasori putting her bed together and, by the looks of it, he was almost done.

"What are you doing?"

"I was bored. I also put together your mom's bed." He went back to working, ignoring her dazed expression.

"Please don't go in my room or my mom's without asking me first."

He looked up and smiled. "Alright…" He continued to put the wooden bed together with Zeppelin watching from the doorway.

When Sasori was finished, he stood up and said, "That's all I can do for now. Goodbye." He walked over to the door and opened it, brushing past her shoulder. Before he completely walked out of sight, he said, "Pein would like to see you later," and disappeared.

Zeppelin sat on the floor and inhaled the first two slices of pizza she took; she didn't eat breakfast, or lunch, and was eating such a late dinner she felt like she hasn't eaten in days. When she got to the last slice she didn't eat right away. Instead, she set the plate on the ground, stood up and walked over to the window. The sky was still cloudy but the dark, menacing ones were replaced by lighter and less threatening ones.

She took out her phone to check the time. It was a quarter till ten. She sighed and shoved the phone back into her pocket. Zeppelin went back to her spot on the floor, but first picked up her plate before she sat down. She took a small bite.

"Yuck," she placed the slice back on the plate, "cold pizza." Zeppelin stood up, the plate in a hand, and went over to the door. With her free hand, she opened it to get to the bedroom hallway. She watched her feet the whole time as she inched her way down the stairs.

When she arrived at the kitchen, she peered in and saw Itachi and Kisame in the room, both grabbing another slice of pizza.

"Is the pizza cold?" she asked.

Itachi looked over. "A bit." Zeppelin walked over to the two guys and placed her plate on the counter. She took Itachi's and placed it in the microwave. She put the setting under reheat and waited a few seconds. When it beeped she opened it back up, grabbed the plate inside and handed it back to Itachi.

"I'm not a fan of cold pizza." Zeppelin placed her own slice into the microwave.

"Thank you." Itachi took a small bite of the pizza.

Zeppelin turned around and saw Kisame exiting. "Want me to reheat your pizza too?" He shook his head and went down the hall towards the living room. Zeppelin faced Itachi.

"So, where is Pein? Sasori told me I need to speak with him, again..." Zeppelin opened the microwave door and placed her plate on the counter.

"I believe he is in the tower. Konan went up awhile ago to help him examine the mirror."

"No kidding? I better go up there and see what he wants…" Zeppelin exited the kitchen to the family room. She stood in the doorway before entering. Hidan was taking a nap on the couch, plate resting on his stomach, while Kakuzu sat on the floor reading a book. Kisame was eating his pizza and talking with Sasori and Deidara by the bookcase. Tobi was nowhere in site.

_"It will be our little secret. Ok?"_

She couldn't get the voice out of her mind.

Zeppelin trembled. She told herself to just forget it ever happened. It was nothing to worry about because she had more important things on her mind, that being Pein and what he wanted.

The bookcase was already moved for her so all she had to do was slip through the door. She braced herself before she plunged into the black pit.

* * *

E/N: Well... I don't feel like this was my best, but I tried. I hope all those who read it enjoyed it. It made both me and Ryuu happy that we got some reviews. Thank you SunAndMoon, CatDevilAsian, and GreenWithEnvy :D it means alot. Hopefully the next chapter comes out soon, but if it doesn't, balme me. I take forever going over them D: sorry. If you found anything that needs to be fixed please PM me, Getsu Nichi. Thanks :)

A/N: Before I say anything, I would like to thank all reviewers :) SunAndMoon, CatDevilAsian, and GreenWithEnvy! Each review made my day and kept me writing :D! And don't always blame the editor :P But if you want to, go ahead! I will try to get the next chapter out in a week or two. So until then, enjoy the first two chapters! Ryuu22 :3


	3. Chapter 3

The Mirror

Chapter Three

* * *

It took a moment for Zeppelin's eyes to adjust to the pitch-black tunnel. She paused after taking her first step and looked back up into the brightly lit room, wondering if she will ever see it again.

She took in a deep breath of the chilling air and marched to the stone staircase. After her many travels down there, she has memorized the best path to take, making the time it takes her cut in half. When she arrived at the first stone step she took out her phone for a light source. Sometimes it's best to be safe than sorry.

The light bounced of the walls and illuminated cobwebs over Zeppelin, making her cringe but she wouldn't let that stop her. Doing her best to ignore the creepy crawlers above, Zeppelin lifted her left foot and planted it on the step. She did the same with her right and made a slow and steady journey to the tower.

As soon as Zeppelin reached the half way point, her pace began to slow down significantly. It was as if someone was holding her back, keeping her from going up. She took it as a bad sign but continued, knowing than an angry Pein would be worse than anything. Flashbacks of that one time ran through her mind.

Why didn't she just run away? Tell her mom? Fight back? She knew why but it hurt to think about it. Zeppelin acted tough and like she never cared. Deep down, she was coward. Afraid of what might happen to her, terrified of death. She became accustomed to the act, probably never capable of changing.

At the top of the tower, Zeppelin could see a streak of light flood out from the bottom of the door. She shut of her cell phone, stuffed it into her pocket and reached out a shaking hand for the door knob.

"Come in."

She stepped back from the door, puzzled how Pein knew she was on the other side. She didn't make another attempt at opening the door, because it opened by itself. Another voice called out.

"You may enter, Zeppelin," said a feminine voice. Konan.

Zeppelin gulped and took small, precarious steps into the small room. When she reached the center of the room, the door slammed from behind. She twirled around; hair flew into her face, and came face to face with Pein. He looked down on her with his emotionless grey eyes. They reminded her of a pond; when you throw a rock into the water, rings encompass the stone.

She found it difficult to form a simple sentence, "Y-you called f-f-for me?" Her voice was shaky and she stuttered almost every word. She cursed herself for acting so fearful.

He turned to Konan, who was standing by the window, and said, "You may leave if you wish." Zeppelin hoped she would have stayed, but knew she would leave. Konan nodded and went out the door. The door made a small 'thud' as it came in contact with the frame and when her footsteps became distant, Pein redirected his attention back to Zeppelin.

He pointed to the pile of glass. "I want you to put the pieces back together."

"But-"

He raised a hand. "I'll be back in ten minutes." He went over to the door and grabbed the door knob. He froze in place, with his head hanging down and Zeppelin could see his shoulders tense up. He looked up at her and asked, "If you find anything of any importance, you will report to me." He left in a flash and left Zeppelin alone in the tower.

She looked down at the pile and at her hands. She held them out in front of her and thought, 'I wonder how bad they will look when I'm done putting Humpty Dumpty together.' She stepped closer to the pile and knelt down. She reached out to a piece that looked like it could be a corner. She handled the piece delicately and laid it next to her on her left.

"One down." She sighed. Zeppelin picked up a corner piece and looked to see if it matched her first. It didn't. She let out an irritated sigh and placed it on her left. She thought how this is like a puzzle; you need to get all the corners and edges first.

She slowly lifted out another edge piece and placed it next between the first two. After the fourth edge piece, she became inpatient and quickly grabbed a sharp piece of the mirror. It cut her almost instantly. The pain reminded her of a paper cut, but the wound was deep. It had sliced her thumb and was about three inches long. The dark red liquid oozed out and slid down her palm, to her wrist, and onto the floor.

_Sobs of little Zeppelin could be herd from upstairs. Her father raced down the steps to find his little girl in the kitchen, sitting in the middle of the room. He looked over to the counter and saw the cookie jar was missing. When Mr. Sims looked at the floor below, he saw the jar shattered and a piece of the jar covered in blood. _

"_Zeppelin!" He ran over to her right side and kneeled down. He picked up her hand and saw a deep cut, running horizontally across the bottom of her pointer finger. "Sweetie, what happened?" _

_She whipped away a fat tear off her cheek, "I w-wanted… a c-c-cookie..." He father sighed and picked her up._

"_Don't worry, sweetie. I got you. You'll be fine." _

She sat up and walked over to the door, keeping her eyes on her hand. She took the handle and with a flick of her wrist, she opened the door. She didn't bother to get out her cell phone.

She slipped on one step, but fortunately caught herself before she hit the stones. "Darn it…" She repositioned herself so she could stand up straight and continued to hurry down the stairs.

She reached the bottom and looked around for any sign of the trap door. It must have been closed for there was no light; Pein must have thought she would try to sneak out.

"Hello? Open the door!" There was no response from upstairs. Zeppelin yelled up at the ceiling again and called, "Pein!" She looked down at her hand and saw most of her palm was covered in a layer of blood. The smell made her feel nauseated and her head began to spin. She hated blood. Everything about it mad her sick.

"What is it?" She was barley able to hear the muffled voice.

"I cut myself!"

There was a long silence before someone opened the door. They offered a hand to help Zeppelin get up and she took the hand and was swiftly pulled up. Zeppelin sat next to the tunnel door and look around the room. Pein was by the tunnel door as well, Konan was at the family room door, and Itachi was on the couch reading the book about the sun. He looked over at Zeppelin, curiosity lingered in his dark eyes.

"Let me see your hand." Pein said. He walked over in front of Zeppelin and crouched down so he was at her eye level. He picked up her hand and examined the cut. He sighed, "Do you have any bandages?"

"I'm not sure. We might have some in the bathroom upstairs."

Pein got up and looked over at Konan. As if she could read his mind, she nodded and walked down the hall. Zeppelin looked back up at Pein and could tell her was pondering about something.

Zeppelin slowly got up from the floor and went over to the couch. She sat on the opposite side of Itachi and stared at the ceiling as she waited for Konan. A yawn escaped from her mouth and Itachi looked up from his book. He didn't say anything, but if he did it would probably be, "You should go to bed."

Zeppelin took a break from staring the ceiling and looked down at the family room door. Faint footsteps could be heard coming down the hall and in no time, Konan walked into the room with the bandages.

She walked over to the couch and sat down next to Zeppelin, "Let me see your hand."

Zeppelin lifted her hand and Konan began to wipe it with a damp towel she must have found in the drawers. It burned when it brushed against the cut, causing Zeppelin to bite down on her lip. Konan swiftly wrapped her hand up and sat up when she was finished. She went over to Pein and began to whisper but it was inaudible to Zeppelin.

"Goodnight." Itachi got up from the couch and placed the book back on the shelf.

He looked over at Pein and Konan, and bowed. They simultaneously bowed back and continue their conversation. Zeppelin watched Itachi go to the trap door and when he was only a foot away he looked back at Zeppelin. She couldn't read the expression that lingered in his eyes.

He was just about to reach for the handle when Zeppelin jumped off the couch. "Wait!" she called out to him.

Itachi paused and turned halfway. "Yes?" Zeppelin waited until she was at his side to continue the conversation.

"So, you like to read right?" Itachi's only response was a nod. "We have some other books. You can barrow them if you want to. But I'm getting kinda tired, so I'll get them out tomorrow. "

"Thank you, I'd like that." Zeppelin noticed that his eyes lit up. Although he might seem cold on the outside, he seemed like a decent person on the inside. Maybe if they weren't in this situation, they could have been friends. 'Maybe not,' she thought.

Zeppelin walked out of the living room and when she reached the stairs she looked back. Almost swinging into him, she noticed Itachi appeared at her side. She looked up at him and saw him looking out the front door. She, too, looked out and saw lightning bugs dancing around the window.

Turning away from the window, she began to go up the stairs. In no time she could hear Itachi's steps follow. They walked down the hall in silence and when they reached her room, Itachi also stopped.

"Goodnight, Zeppelin."

"Goodnight." Zeppelin went into her room and closed the door behind her. She walked over to her bed and checked for any sign of Tobi but fortunately there was none. Thank God for small favors. She walked to the small closet and opened the creaky doors. In the closet were three boxes labeled, all of which was labeled 'Zeppelins clothes'. She opened all three of the boxes in search of her pajamas. It was the third box she opened; she found her red plaid pajama pants. She took them out and slipped them on but kept on her t-shirt, too lazy to get completely changed.

Zeppelin sluggishly waked to her sleeping bag, picked it up, and brought it over to her bed. She didn't have sheets on her bed yet and didn't want to freeze in the middle of the night. She hopped on the bed and slipped into the sleeping bag. Zeppelin laid her head down on the mattress and began to dream of darkness.

* * *

A loud knocking at Zeppelins door woke her from her light sleep. She looked over to the window and saw the sun was beginning to rise. She jumped out of her sleeping bag and ran over to the door to see what the problem could be.

She opened the door to find Kakuzu waiting with his arms crossed. "Someone is outside."

"What?" Zeppelin raced passed Kakuzu, flew down the stairs, and looked out the window near the front door. She saw Cherry being unpacked by her mother. "Aw crap." She looked back at the stairs, which Kakuzu was now standing at.

"Who is it?" he asked.

Zeppelin sighed, "My mother." She stepped away from the window and walked up to Kakuzu.

"I need to get everyone in the tower." Kakuzu nodded and followed Zeppelin up the stairs into the bedroom hallway.

They were successful in waking everyone up, although Hidan was a different story. He refused to leave, thus making Kakuzu literally drag him downstairs.

When everyone was in the family room, the doorbell rung and a muffled, "Zeppelin? Are you there?" could be heard.

"Hurry, please!" Zeppelin whispered.

Everyone jumped down into the tunnel but Zeppelin became worried; Pein and Konan were not among the rest of the group. Trying to ignore it, she went over to the side of the bookcase and shoved it over the door, surprisingly, without throwing out her back. She could here the group talking under the tunnel. They too noticed how Pein and Konan were missing.

"Zeppelin?" Her mother was in the doorway holding a small box which read 'Photos'.

Zeppelin sighed, "Hey mom."

Her mother walked next to the couch and placed the small box on a cushion. She eyed Zeppelin, with a hint of curiosity shining through her green orbs. Mrs. Sims asked, "What were you doing?" She looked behind Zeppelin and stared at the bookcase. Zeppelin could feel herself tense up at the thought of her mom finding the tunnel door.

"I-I was just looking at the books… you know how much I love old books." What a lie.

"Well, alright. Can you help me get the rest of the boxes?"

Zeppelin nodded. "Sure. No problem."

Zeppelin followed her mother outside next to Cherry. She opened the trunk and saw three other small boxes. Two of the small boxes were labeled, 'bathroom', 'kitchen'. The other box wasn't labeled but Zeppelin figured it had small house accessories.

Zeppelin took the box labeled 'kitchen' and walked to the front door. It was cracked open so Zeppelin used her foot to push it completely opened. She walked in and listened for any unwanted guest strolling about. The house was silent, except for Zeppelins footsteps. She entered the kitchen, looking around before entering. 'Where are they?'

"Zeppelin?" Zeppelin turned around to meet her mother's perplexed stare. Her mother brushed past Zeppelin and went to the center of the kitchen. Mrs. Sims looked around the room and when she found nothing, she turned back to Zeppelin, "What is it?"

"Nothing… I thought I heard something."

Her mother tilted her head, "Is something bothering you?" She slowly approached her daughter and placed a hand on Zeppelins shoulder. "You can always tell me anything, sweetie."

Zeppelin looked up at her mother and said, "No, I'm ok." She took the hand off her shoulder and walked over to the counter and began unpacking the box. It contained silverware and some whisks, wooden spoons, and other needed utensils for a kitchen.

She felt so guilty. Zeppelin normally didn't keep secrets this big from her mother, especially ones that dealt with their early demise.

When she was finished unpacking the box and putting away everything, Zeppelin went back to the car to get the last box. Her mother was standing by the car with her arms crossed. She didn't look mad, but she did look worried.

"Zeppelin, you haven't eaten yet, have you? I'll get donuts."

"That sounds good to me."

Her mother smiled, "Alright." She went to the car truck and pulled out the last box. "I'll be back soon, ok?"

"Okie dokie." She gingerly took the box from her mother and walked over to the porch. She watched her mother drive down the gravel driveway and when she was out of site Zeppelin ran inside, placed the box by the stairs and ran back out. 'They have to be out here.'

She sprinted to the backyard and stared at the dead forest the surrounded the house. She jogged to the edge of the forest and yelled, "Pein! Konan! Are you out here?" She listened for a response, but none ever came. 'Please be inside!'

She raced to the back door, through the kitchen, and into the family room. Before she pushed the bookcase away, she listened for anyone in the house. The only thing she could here was her breathing. She shoved it off the door and realized how much easier it was to move it this time.

She kneeled by the tunnel door and tucked some of her curls behind her ears. She opened the door and looked down in the darkness, listening for any voices. It wasn't difficult; she could hear Hidan yelling from within the tunnel.

"What the fuck took you so long?" He climbed out of the tunnel and looked down at Zeppelin, daggers in his eyes. What really bothered her was the fact he had his hand on his scythe.

"I'm sorry if my mom finally came back. It's not like she lives here…"

"Tch." He grabbed the front of her tank and held her up from the ground. "You really piss me off, Zipper."

Zeppelin only glared back at the man, but not being able to always control her emotions, a flicker of fear passed through her eyes. Hidan's lips curled up into a sadistic smile. She began to panic and looked down at the tunnel entrance, Tobi was watching them. He climbed out and walked up to Hidan.

"What are you doing? Pein won't be happy if you kill her Hidan…"

"Does it really matter?" He looked back at Zeppelin.

"It does." Pein jumped out of the tunnel and pushed Tobi out of the way. "She has valuable information we need. If you kill her, we can't get it back."

Hidan dropped Zeppelin on the floor and walked over to the couch. He propped his scythe against the couch and plopped down next to it.

Zeppelin stood up and faced Pein. "You won't able to come out for the rest of the day, maybe the next two. If you guys want food, you have to wait until my mom goes to bed."

"I understa-"

"I don't! Why do we have to wait?"

Zeppelin looked down at her feet, and backed up. "My mom would freak out if she saw you guys."

Hidan and Tobi looked over at Pein. He was silent but, in his eyes, you could see he was thinking about the situation very deeply. He turned to the tunnel door and jumped down, Zeppelin turned to see Hidan picking up his scythe in a huff from the floor. He, too, jumped down into the tunnel.

Zeppelin felt a tap on her shoulder; she turned around and found Tobi waving. "Bye Zeppelin," he singed the first half of his sentence but the other half became cold, "see you later."

Zeppelin receded and went over to the couch. "Bye."

Tobi followed his comrades into the tunnel while Zeppelin stayed by the couch, wondering what was under the mask of Tobi.

Zeppelin went over to the entrance to cover the door when a hand is placed over hers. She pulled her hand back and stared into the tunnel. She could see a pair of red eyes looking up at her.

"Itachi?" She looked up at her left and saw Itachi looking down on her. "Wow, you're fast."

Itachi didn't comment. Zeppelin raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why did you come up h- Oh right… you wanted to borrow a book."

He nodded.

"Follow me. And you can give one to Kakuzu to; he seems to enjoy reading as well. At least, this way, you have something to do." Zeppelin sat up and walked over to the parlor, she and her mother decided that they could make it into an office. She looks for the box labeled 'Books'. It was the largest of the boxes in the room.

Zeppelin ripped off the tape and began to search through for something Itachi might like. The books Zeppelin owned were the Harry Potter series, Eragon series, and Steven King books her father had once owned.

"Do you like scary stuff, dragons, or magic?" She balanced a few books in her arms and looked up at Itachi.

He thought for a moment. "Surprise me."

Zeppelin picked up the Harry Potter books. "The books are thick and it's a series so you should be good for awhile..." She handed him four of the books while she carried three. Together they walked back to the tunnel door in silence, an awkward silence.

Zeppelin stopped, "… I forgot to get something for Kakuzu…" She looked over at Itachi, "Can you hold these?"

He nodded and took the books while Zeppelin ran back to the parlor. She looked through the books until she found "IT". After closing the box she ran back to the family room to find Itachi waiting by the door.

"Do you need help carrying the books?"

"No but thanks for asking."

Zeppelin nodded and gave Itachi the "It" book. He studied the cover for a while before jumping down into the black pit. Zeppelin waved to him before she let the door fall across the hole.

Zeppelin didn't like having the group in her house, but despised being alone even more. She took out her cell and looked for her mom's number and when she found the number, she selected it. She waited for her to pick up but she began to worry when no one answered. She didn't want to worry but her mother always answered her calls.

"What if-" She shook her head. She knew worrying would only make the situation worse and there had to be a reasonable explanation as to why no one answered. "She left her phone in the car, just like the keys."

Zeppelin called again but this time she left a message, "Hey mom, it's Zeppelin. Call me back when you can. Bye." She put her phone back into her pocket and went to the kitchen, for she was parched.

Over at one of the cabinets, she found cups and coffee mugs. She took a small red cup, which she has had since she was small and placed it on the counter next to the refrigerator. Zeppelin went over to the pantry to get one of the bottles of soda; she took the bottle of Dr. Pepper. She filled her small cup halfway.

Zeppelin walked over to the doorway and leaned against the doorframe, taking small sips of her drink. Her phone began to ring. Almost causing soda to shoot out of her nose, she set the drink down on the floor and took out her phone, fumbling with it for a few seconds trying to get it open.

"Hello?"

"Hey Zeppelin, I'll be home soon, ok? Did something happen?" Her mother sounded concerned.

Zeppelin sighed, "I'm fine. I thought something happened to you!"

"Oh, no! I just left my phone in the car."

Zeppelin mentally face slapped herself. "I thought about that possibility. Well, I'll see you soon."

"Bye. I love you!"

"Love ya too."

Zeppelin checked her battery and saw she had only ten percent of the battery left. She didn't know where the phone charger was, and did not feel like searching for it, so she just put the phone on the counter. She walked back to get her cup when a voice broke through the silence.

"**Pein found something on the mirror." **

Zeppelin fell back and stared up at Zetsu, "H-how did you get here? The door was closed!" He didn't answer." Zeppelin frowned and stood up, legs shaking slightly, "What did he find?"

"There was a small tag on the back of a leg. It said, 'Kensington."

Zeppelin thought for a moment, "That rings a bell… I think my mom and I might have driven on that road when we were driving here."

He gave her a small nod, "I'll let Pein know." He began to walk into the family room but paused and said, **"Turn around." **

A puzzled look appeared on Zeppelins face, "W-what?"

"Just look away."

Zeppelin turned around, crossing her arms and said, "Ok." She stood there for a minute, waiting for something unknown to happen. Becoming inpatient, she tuned around asking, "What are you doing Zetsu?" Her eyes widened when she saw that he was no longer in the room.

Three knocks came from the front of the house. She took her drink from the ground and placed it on the kitchen counter. Zeppelin sighed and walked over to the front door to let her mother in. She opened the door to find her mother carrying a large Dunkin Donuts box. Zeppelin rolled her eyes as her mother walked in.

"Sorry I took so long!"

Zeppelin began to follow her mother down the hall. "It's ok… Did you get Boston Kreme?"

He mother turned around and smiled, "Yup!" Zeppelin remembered the first time she had a Boston Kreme. It was about a year after her father's death.

_Zeppelin was holding her mothers hand as they crossed the semi-busy street. It was the first week of summer and it was late in the morning. Mrs. Sims was taking Zeppelin to Dunkin Donuts for a small treat. _

_They reached the building and walked in together, Zeppelin walked closer to her mother when she noticed people looking over at her. They would smile and make comments like, "She's so cute!" Zeppelin would blush and hide behind her mother. Mrs. Sims would down at Zeppelin and smile. _

_When it was there turn to order, Mrs. Sims ordered two donuts, both of which were Boston Kreme's. She took the small box from the cashier and took Zeppelin back outside. They went over to a small bench by the building and sat down to eat their treats. Mrs. Zeppelin handed the donut to Zeppelin, who stared in 'aw' at the strange pastry. _

_She opened her mouth slowly and took a small bite, and a smudge of chocolate appeared on the corner of her mouth. Her mother giggled and began to eat her donut, making sure she didn't get anything on her face. Zeppelin continued to eat the foreign food and when she was finished, she now had a chocolate mustache. _

"My favorite…"

Zeppelin went into the kitchen and saw her mother taking two plates out from the cabinet. She walked over and took one of the small plates and opened the box. There were mostly Boston Kremes but some other ones like sugar glazed.

Zeppelin didn't want to pig out so she took one donut for the moment. She also needed something for her "guest" to eat. She knew her mom wouldn't question the missing food. Zeppelin went over to the kitchen table and took the chair in front of her mother. They ate in silence, which was common for them. Zeppelin and her mother would never be as close as Zeppelin as with her father. But, they did have their moments.

"So…" Zeppelin couldn't think of anything she could start a conversation with her mother.

Her mother rested her head in a hand, "So…"

Zeppelin took one last bite from her donut and walked over to the sink, "I'm going to go up to my room."

When she reached her room, she closed the door behind her, but didn't lock it. Her mother despised it when Zeppelin locked her bedroom door. She went to her bed and plopped down on the edge, thinking what she will do about her sleeping schedule. She thought about it for a while but came up with this; she would go to bed at eight and wake up at eleven. That was the time she was positive her mother would be sound asleep.

"And I will go back to bed at two." Zeppelin whispered to herself. She knew taking anymore hours of sleep would cause here to not function right and her mother would begin to worry even more.

With this planed out, she went over to her closet to begin organizing her clothes.

Pein was studying the mirror intently with Konan at his side while the other members were lounging around. Hidan was taking a nap by the door, Deidara was talking with Sasori while trying to ignore Tobi, and Kakuzu and Itachi were reading Zeppelin's books by the window. Kisame and Zetsu sat on the floor opposite of the window, looking down at the floor.

"Pein," Tobi walked over to him, "How long are we going to stay up here?"

Pein didn't look over. "I'm not sure. All I know is it has to be a time where her mother won't be awake." He continued to study the ornate designs on the mirror.

Tobi nodded and walked back to Deidara, "Hi Sempai!" He plopped down on Deidara's left.

"Get lost, un!" Deidara growled.

Sasori rolled his eyes at the two and rested his head in his hands. He didn't enjoy waiting in the small tower. His patience was becoming thin and listening to Tobi and Deidara fight wasn't helping. Sasori closed his eyes, "Deidara, Tobi, can you two be quiet?"

"He started it, un!" Deidara point at Tobi, "Make him leave!"

"Deidara," Sasori looked up, "act your age for once."

"Hn…"

"There!" Zeppelin organized her clothes in piles on her closet floor. She didn't know where the hangers were at the moment but had a hunch they were in her mom's room. She stepped back from the closet, closed the door and went over to her bed. She sat there, trying to think of something to past the time but nothing came.

She wanted to bang her head against the wall, she almost did too. It would help past time. Zeppelin jumped off the bed and walked to her door. She swung it open and walked out into the hallway. She looked down the hallway to the window Tobi jumped out of.

"_What are you going to do?" He remained silent. Tobi turned his head slightly and she bet, underneath his mask, he was beaming. He suddenly leaped out of the window, into the air, arms out wide, and plummeted on to the roof, landing perfectly. How he did it she would never know. The roof slanted into an abrupt slope and, because of the recent rainfall, it was sleek. Most would have lost their footing and fall to their untimely death but Tobi just raised his arm and gave her a thumbs up to show her he was ok. _

She had to admit it was interesting having them around but she still didn't know a lot about them. Why did they all wear those cloaks? Why does Tobi wear a mask and have a split personality? Why does Zetsu, too? Why do Itachi and Pein have those strange eyes? Is Kisame half shark?

Questions were coming at her so fast she began to feel light headed. She shook her head and walked down the hall to the small window. She leaned against it and observed the surroundings outside. She could see robins singing in the trees, butterflies dancing around blossoming bushes, and she even saw a deer. It looked young for it still had their spots on their back. It wasn't long for the little deer's mother to appear at their side and together they turned around and walked into the forest.

"Zetsu," Pein called, "go upstairs and bring Zeppelin here."

* * *

E/N: Hello :D First, I would like to thank all those who reviewed: Dr. Stilla Live, GreenWithEnvy, and ViciousViper15. We really love it when we hear from our readers. OK, I would just like to say, this may seem like your average "Akatsuki comes to our world" kind of story. I would just like to say something big will happen, so keep reading to find out ;) (hehe that's evil of me). If something does not make sense please leave it in a review or PM me. Getsu Nichi. Please be nice and do not flame. Don't. If you don't like this kind of stuff then why are you even bother reading this? Peace out and I hope to see you all and more next chapter.

A/N: Thank you Dr. Stilla Live, GreenWithEnvy, and ViciousViper15 for the reviews! And another thanks for those who favored the story :) Reviews keep me writing x3! The next chapter should come out in about a week, but it depends on how busy I might be :/ Thank you for giving your time to read the story and for reviewing! :D


	4. Chapter 4

****

The Mirror

**Chapter Four**

* * *

Zeppelin stared out the window, taking in the sight of the outside world. It was still bleak but it had stopped raining and rays burst forth, hitting the window. Zeppelin let out a heavy sigh and slowly backed away from the window. How she wished she could just leave this place. As she began to make her way to the staircase a voice called out to her.

"Zeppelin."

She glanced over her shoulder and saw Zetsu. He stood there at the widow, the light shining behind him, outlining his body with a faint glow, with his arms at his side, no emotions coming through. It caused a violent shiver to run up Zeppelin's spine.

She quickly composed herself and asked, "Did Pein tell you to come up here? My mom is still downstairs." It inwardly annoyed her that she did all she could to keep them hidden and in the end they appeared when there was someone, other than herself, around.

Zetsu's darker side answered her. **"Yes, Pein did instruct me to come and bring you to the tower."**

"And he did know your mother was still in the house," His other side added.

Zeppelin looked back at the stairs and thought about the situation. She could risk getting caught by her mother and possibly anger Pein for making him wait or wait until her mother went to bed and still anger their leader. But, letting her mom find out about the tunnel would infuriate Pein more than anything. Zeppelin didn't want to cause herself an early demise.

"Tell Pein that I will wait until my mom goes to bed. I'm sure he'll understand." She could see Zetsu nod. "I'll be downstairs." Zeppelin walked away from her guest and to the edge of the staircase. She listened for any life downstairs and heard her mother walking around, probably putting some things away.

Zeppelin dashed down the steps, skipping a step or two at a time, and skidded to a halt when she reached the family room. She peeked around the door and saw her mother at the fireplace, setting down some family pictures. Part of Zeppelin didn't want to go in, but she decided it wouldn't hurt.

"Hey mom. Need any help?" Zeppelin leaned against the wall and looked up at her mother.

"No thanks sweetie." Her green eyes glowed for a moment. "Wanna go look around town?" Zeppelin didn't want to leave the group home alone. Just the thought of it made her queasy. Then again, she could investigate the street, 'Kensington.'

"Sure."

Her mom nearly dragged her out the door and to the end of the driveway. Zeppelin never saw her mom so excited to go shopping in town but it has been awhile since they have done anything together, besides cleaning and putting everything way.

They strolled down the street that Zeppelin had once gone down and to the edge of the small town.

The buildings were the same style as the Sims home, but they were all restored. Bright colors decorated the shops and flowerpots were found on every corner. Bricks of every color lined the streets in all sorts of patters. On the light poles, flags were hung with the name, 'Estertown,' printed on them.

"Oh! Isn't the town adorable?" Her mom began to run ahead to one of the shops. The sign read, 'Sweet Pea.' Zeppelin sighed to herself and shook her head, knowing it would be a long evening.

* * *

After browsing though the store, they left empty handed and continued to travel down the street. Zeppelin looked around for any signs that could tell her what street they were on. After passing a few more shops, they came across the intersection 'Meadow' and 'Kensington'.

'Finally.' Zeppelin thought to herself. The only problem now was she didn't know what she was looking for. 'Any stores that might sell mirrors would be a good start', she mused.

"Where to now, sweetie?" Mrs. Sims asked her daughter.

Zeppelin titled her head up and, with her thumb, pointed into the direction of Kensington. "How 'bout down here?"

Her mom nodded and led the way, occasionally looking through the store windows. What caught Mrs. Sims attention the most was a dress shop. The dresses were pink, floral, and trimmed with lace. Zeppelin gagged to herself as her mother admired them.

"Oh, Zeppelin! Aren't these adorable?"

"…" Zeppelin raised an eyebrow.

"Did you want one?" She asked as she looked over at one dress in particular. It reminded Zeppelin of her Grandmother's drapes.

Zeppelin looked over at the window and said, with an imitated intellectual voice, "Pink frou-frou dresses plus me equals," Zeppelin made a fake gagging noise as she turned her attention back to her mother. Mrs. Sims rolled her eyes and left the front of the store, Zeppelin soon followed still gagging to herself.

At almost every window, Zeppelin's mother would stop and look to see what was there. During that time, Zeppelin would stray away.

When Zeppelin was busy spacing out, on the opposite side of the street there was a sign for one of the old buildings that read, "Kensington Antiques." The sign was worn out and the store itself was, surprisingly, unappealing, considering the fact that the rest of the town was so beautiful.

Unlike most of the town, this shop was not recently restored. The large window in the front was cracked on the lower left corner, possibly vandalism. There was also a single window on the top floor. It looked down at the street and all those who inhabited it like the single eye of a great monster. The colors that decorated the building, which were grayish, greenish tones, were dulled and/or chipping away. The only visible door was the one by the broken window, and it seemed to be forgotten. Anyone that passed by never even twitched in that direction. If it wasn't for the 'Open' sign in the door, it would be assumed abandoned.

Zeppelin got the eerie feeling that she was being watched, so she turned her head up slightly from the pavement she was studying closely. Her heart nearly skipped a beat. "Uh… Hey mom! Let's check out that antique shop! I'm sure you'll find good deals in there…"

Zeppelin knew her mother too well. Finding deals was a hobby of Zeppelin's mother. That is why they moved here. A cheap, large, house.

Mrs. Sims grabbed Zeppelin's shoulder and yanked her to 'Kensington Antiques,' almost throwing her, by accident of course, into the path of a car.

Even though it was Zeppelin who wanted to check out the shop, she was getting a chill down her spine just looking at it. Now that she thought about it, it was that top window watching her. It was actually watching her every move as she stepped closer.

'Damn windows.'

As Zeppelin and her mother opened the front door, small bells banged on the wooden door, letting the owner know they had customers. When the door slammed close, Zeppelin checked out the small store and found many trinkets lying on tables. The store looked much smaller on the outside, but it was actually quite roomy.

"Hello," a voice coughed from the far left corner. Zeppelin only moved her eyes and spotted an elderly man sitting at a desk. He looked so frail. It seemed that if you just tapped him he would break into a million pieces. He wore an old fashion type of suit, one you would imagine a butler to be in and his pasty white skin just seemed to hang off his bones. The man's thin, silver hair hung over his pale gray eyes.

"Hello!" Zeppelin's mother shouted a little too loud.

"I'm not deaf," hissed the elderly man. His brows furrowed and his thin lips formed an unpleasant frown. Zeppelin knew she would act the same if people yelled at her. 'Will I be like this when I'm old?'

"S-sorry…" mumbled her mother, as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"Were you looking for anything specific? Or are you to just looking?" He grumbled from behind his desk. Zeppelin laughed to herself, 'This is why you don't have customers, old man.'

"Nope! Just looking." Mrs. Sims put on a small smile but it wasn't returned from the shop owner.

He turned around in the chair, now facing a computer. "Don't go up the stairs in the back." Both Zeppelin and her mother agreed and began to browse through the antiques. Zeppelin enjoyed looking at them and thought how someone else, many years ago, must have enjoyed owning this or that, an old book, a brooch, or toy piano with a few missing keys.

Zeppelin picked up one of the books and checked the tag; it read 'The Iliad.' It was written by Homer, a well known epic poetry writer. Zeppelin read part of it in English class but wasn't interested in buying the book. She couldn't really remember, but she was pretty sure she had fallen asleep. She set it back on the table and went deeper into the store.

As she walked to the back she looked over her shoulder and saw her mother admiring the jewelry at the front, close to the owner's desk. When Zeppelin reached the back, she saw that the room was mostly filled with large furniture. Bedroom sets, kitchen tables, chairs, couches, and they were all beautiful. The designs put into them were stunning, and work like this was hard to find in modern furniture.

Zeppelin's eyes moved across the room over to the covered up staircase entrance. A dark red sheet covered the way, thanks to the store owner. Zeppelin knew it was wrong to disobey an order, but she had a mission to complete. That was a good enough reason, right?

Zeppelin tipped toed to the staircase, watching her feet the whole way. She must have stepped on a loose board because a loud squeak erupted from beneath her feet. It bounced off the walls, echoing slightly, causing Zeppelin to freeze in her tracts. She waited for the old man to yell at her but he never did.

"Safe!" Zeppelin whispered.

Zeppelin slyly dashed to the sheet, pushed it to the side, and took her first step onto the staircase. Each step made slowed Zeppelin down. From guilt? Possibly. An unpleasant feeling? Definitely. Zeppelin felt like a stone was thrown at her stomach, or worse. She was going to be sick.

"Almost there," Zeppelin said through clenched teeth. She was almost half way there, and felt pathetic. She knew at this rate someone would notice her disappearance, so she needed to move quicker. Zeppelin skipped every other step in the twisted stair case and in no time she was at the top.

There was no door, just another sheet. With her left hand, she held up the sheet and stepped into the small room. Nothing too special about the room; there was furniture everywhere around the room but they were all covered in cream sheets, layered in dust and cobwebs. Zeppelin made her way over a covered object and lifted the sheet to find an old stove from the mid 1800's.

She dropped the sheet and continued to look around the second story. 'Why was this off-limits?' She stepped around to a rather tall piece of furniture, also covered in a cream sheet. All she could see were the wooden 'feet' that kept it standing. Curiosity got to Zeppelin.

Dust flew around the room like orbs of light as the sheet listlessly fell to the wooden floor.

* * *

"Pein, I haven't sensed any activity upstairs when I went to the bottom of the stairs. Do you think they left?" Konan asked as she came through the tower door. The room became silent and all eyes went to Pein.

He thought for a moment. He knew no one was upstairs; it was possible Zeppelin was getting information of this 'Kensington.' Or perhaps, she was trying to get away. Either way, he would send Zetsu into the house to investigate.

"I do think that as well. We can question her when she returns." Pein went over to the pile of books and picked up, 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.'

* * *

A mirror is what stood in front of Zeppelin. Her heart began to pound in her chest as she ran her hand across the glass surface. She found it. Zeppelin couldn't believe her own eyes but here it was. They would finally be able to go back to their own world.

"What are you doing in here?"

Zeppelin twirled around and came face to face with the store owner. His pale eyes were brimmed with anger and his brows were furrowed, creasing his brow. He dropped a boney hand onto her shoulder and tightened his grip as he pulled Zeppelin to the doorway and down the twisted stair case. 'Why me?' was the only thought in Zeppelin's mind as they stepped out into the back of the store.

Zeppelins eyes widen as she saw her mother come out from behind a dresser. "Zeppelin?"

"..." The store owner released Zeppelin and pushed her into Mrs. Sims shoulder. Zeppelin kept her head down, her crimson curls hanging over her face. She felt so horrible; she just wanted to hide under her bed sheets and never come out to see the light of day again.

"I don't want to see her in my store again."

Zeppelin listened to the old man's feet drag across the floor and waited to be scolded by her mother. It never came. A warm hand took Zeppelin's and led her to the front of the store. Zeppelin bit her bottom lip; she knew she was going to get it when they got home. Her mother never yelled in public.

When they made it to the front door Zeppelin looked over at the old man. He must have been watching them walk to the door, for he was already looking up from the desk. A 'Humph' was all that came from the elder.

* * *

When Zeppelin and her mother arrived to the end of their driveway, Mrs. Sims paused. Zeppelin looked up at her mother, hoping she would say something. She wanted her mother to yell at her, anything would be better than this screaming silence, but Zeppelin's mother just continued the journey to the house, still silent.

When they reached the front door, Zeppelins hand was released. Mrs. Sims took her purse off her shoulder and searched for her keys. Zeppelin thought it might be possible to lighten the mood.

"Maybe you left the keys in the car?"

A venomous glare is returned for Zeppelin's joke. Zeppelin quickly turned to avoid the stare. She couldn't remember the last time her mother was so angry. No, furious. Her mother is usually so cheerful but now… Punishment will come soon.

A click came from the door as it was unlocked. Mrs. Sims pushed on the wood and it creaked as it swung open. Zeppelin closed the door behind her and was instantly pulled down the hall into the living room.

* * *

Kisame was told to go and listen for anyone in the house. If there was anyone present, he was to report back to Pein. Pein needed to know this for he was planning on sending Zetsu to get Zeppelin.

Kisame reached the bottom of the stairs and slowly made his way underneath the door. He looked up and waited for a minute but nothing could be heard from the room above. He crossed his arms and looked over his shoulder.

"So, did Pein tell you to come down here as well? Or did you come down here on your own accord?" Kisame returned his attention back to the door.

"My own accord. I wanted to stretch my legs a bit," Itachi answered as he stepped next to his partner.

Kisame snickered, "Are you sure you didn't want to barrow another book?" He looked down at Itachi. "You did finish most of them right?"

"Yes." A small smile appeared on his face but Kisame never noticed.

They both glanced up the door and listened for any type of activity upstairs. A door could be heard closing and footsteps came closer to the room above. They suddenly stopped in the center of the room, and only silence followed.

"Well?" Both men recognized the voice right away. Zeppelin.

"What did he say?" Another woman was in the room, probably Zeppelin's mother.

Another long pause before an answer came. "He said 'Don't go up the stairs in the back'."

Kisame gave a low, dark chuckle. "So she got caught while looking, eh?" He continued to snicker but Itachi never said anything. He wasn't surprised she got caught. In fact, he expected no less.

"Exactly. You disobeyed him and went upstairs after he clearly told you not to! I want you to go to your room and stay there." Mrs. Sims footsteps could be heard exiting the room, but she paused. "I'll be going to work tomorrow. I'll be leaving at seven."

Itachi looked over at Kisame. "We shall report this to Leader immediately."

* * *

"To my room I go…" Zeppelin mumbled under her breath. She walked up to her bedroom, head hanging down the entire time. She risked her mother's trust for her unwelcomed guest. Even worse, she knew if she told them this, they wouldn't care. In fact, Hidan would laugh his ass off.

She plopped down on her bed and stared at the ceiling, trying to think of any type of plan to get that mirror. One thing she was certain on was she couldn't do it alone. She needed help from the group, and she wouldn't take no for an answer.

"But," Zeppelin whispered, "I have to wait until tomorrow."

* * *

"Leader-Sama," Itachi walked out from the tower stairs and over to the window where his leader sat. Itachi observed the book her was reading and was surprised he was reading the 'Harry Potter' book. "Zeppelin was out today with her mother and was most likely getting information on this 'Kensington'."

Kisame came out from the tower stairs, closed the door, and also went over to his leader. A large toothy grin had spread onto his face. "Yeah and she got caught."

Pein looked up from his book. "Did she?" He closed the book, sat it next to him and looked over at Kisame. "Anything else you wish to tell me?"

"No."

Pein sat up and made his way over to Zetsu, who was reading the 'Eragon' book. Zetsu never looked up. "Yes, Leader-Sama?"

"I want you to get more information on Zeppelin's trip. I want to know if she found anything, is that clear, Zetsu?"

"**Yes." **

* * *

Zeppelin tried to take a nap, knowing that tonight would wear her out. The group hasn't bothered her much but now her mother will be gone during the day. The worst thing that came to her mind was that school will be starting soon. She'll have these strangers possibly wandering her home doing only God knows what.

"**Zeppelin, we have some questions to ask you." **

Zeppelin sighed and shoved the pillow over her face. "What, Zetsu? What does he want now?" she said, all of it very muffled.

"We know you were out today and wanted to know what you found."

"**And take that pillow of your face," **His darker side snapped.

Zeppelin slid the pillow off her face and let it fall onto the floor. "Better, Mr. Zetsu?" She purposely used his little nickname given to him by Tobi. She was in a bad mood and didn't care if he was going to strangle her for that remark, she actually hoped he would.

"**Just tell us what you found, girl." **

Zeppelin got up from her bed, over to Zetsu and looked him straight in the eye. "I did find something. I was planning to tell Pein myself after my mom went to bed, so you can leave now." Zeppelin pointed to the door and rested her other hand on her hip.

"Please don't make this more difficult," his lighter side pleaded.

She turned around and walked over to the pillow she previously threw to the ground. She could feel Zetsu's eyes watching her as she placed it back onto the bed.

"Just tell him to wait, please."

No answer came. Zeppelin looked back and saw she was alone again.

* * *

"**Leader-Sama, she was unwilling to tell us what she found. She said she was going to wait until tonight to tell you personally."**

"Hn… Is that all, Zetsu?"

"Yes."

Pein sauntered over to the window and focused onto someone going into the red object. He didn't know what to call it, but he knew it was some type of transportation device.

There were so many objects in this world that were foreign to him, but it didn't matter if he ever found out what their purposes were. He and his organization will be leaving soon, never having to worry about this world again.

* * *

A car could be heard driving down the Sims' driveway, and this caught Zeppelins attention. It was possible her mother was going to the store but she could also be going to work, but that was highly unlikely. Zeppelin didn't waste a moment and rushed out her room and into the kitchen. Mrs. Sims left a note on the refrigerator.

_I'll be back by ten._

"What the…?" Zeppelin was speechless at the note. She couldn't think of any reason why her mother could be out and so late. 'Definitely not for the store,' Zeppelin thought.

Zeppelin only shrugged it off knowing she shouldn't worry. But she did worry. Not for her mothers safety but her own.

Zeppelin nearly crawled over to the bookcase; fear was the only thing holding her down at this point. She rested her back on the right side of the bookcase and shoved it off the hidden door. She gazed at the door and debated whether or not she should call them up, or let them figure out that the door is uncovered.

She debated this is her mind for a minute, but in the end she lifted the door open. Zeppelin peered into the tunnel and waited to see if anyone was present. When no one came up, she scooted to the edge of the hole and hopped down into the tunnel. She smirked to herself, realizing what she just did.

_Tobi waved a hand in her face. "Let's get the others together!" Zeppelin nodded and together they walk over to the trap door. When Zeppelin looked down she began to back away slowly, shaking her head. "What is it Zeppelin?" Tobi asked._

"_I'm not going to jump down; I'll loose all feeling in my feet. Someone moved the rock that was there."_

"_That's ok! Tobi will carry you!" Before she even had the chance to answer, he scooped her up into his arms and jumped down into the hole, or as Zeppelin liked to call it, the black pit. As they were falling, Zeppelin was death gripping his arms and Tobi laughed. _

'Mission accomplished.'

Zeppelin inched across the floor until she found a wall. She kept her hands on the wall and slowly climbed up the stairs, skipping all the crumbling steps. She listened for any voices coming down the steps, but it was silent as the grave in the tower.

When she reached the top of the tower, she rested an ear on the door and listened for any activity. A sudden snore made her jump back, almost throwing her down the stairs. 'Sleeping?' she thought. A possibility since they had nothing to do.

She climbed up to her feet and again rested her ear on the door, ready for any noises that might surprise her. There still the loud snoring coming from the door, but softer ones could be heard around other areas of the room. If Zeppelin was correct, they were all asleep.

She stepped back and reached out for the doorknob but stopped half way. "The door will squeak. I just know it…" Zeppelin whispered. She grabbed the handle and slowly twisted her wrist, only moving the doorknob. When it was as far down as possible, she began to open the tower door.

It didn't make a single noise, calming Zeppelins nerves a bit. She let the door only open halfway before she walked into the tower. Zeppelin looked down at her left to find Hidan, the one snoring loudly. For the first time since she has known him, he seemed peaceful. Zeppelin was shocked to see Pein sleeping as well. He was sitting against the wall by the mirror, Konan's head rested on his shoulder. She knew they were human, but could never picture them sleeping.

"Good evening."

The voice caught her off guard and she stumbled back, almost stepping on Hidan's leg. When she regained her balance Zeppelin looked around the room to find the owner of the voice. Her eyes searched to the right edge of the room. The blonde, Deidara, was leaning against the wall, his visible eye closed.

Zeppelin's eyes flickered to the redhead that sat next to the blonde. His legs were crossed Indian style and his arms were folded under his cloak. He looked so bored and unenthusiastic every time Zeppelin saw him which was the total opposite of the blonde. Deidara always seemed interested in something, be it the dishwasher or a piece of pizza.

"A-are you the only one awake?"

Zeppelin recalled him not being present when she bought the pizza. She knew some pizza was brought up to Pein and Zetsu, thanks to Konan, but none was given to Sasori. 'It's not like he would die from skipping a meal.'

Sasori smirked. "I am. The last one to fall asleep was Pein, and that was about ten minutes ago." He began to stand up, using the wall for support. "What did you find? It must be that important if you must tell Pein personally."

Zeppelin took in a deep breath. "It _is _that important."

Sasori knew she wouldn't speak more about the situation so he said, "Very well. If you want to live to be another day older, you will wait until they wake up." His eyes seemed to lighten up at the thought of her dying.

He started to step over to the door and Zeppelin followed until she reached the steps. Sasori didn't bother to wait for her and continued to walk ahead. Zeppelin glanced back at the room, specifically at Pein. Even when he slept his expression was hard and cold.

Zeppelin returned her attention to getting into the house. Once she was back into the family room, she listened for any footsteps coming from the rooms above.

"What are you doing?"

Zeppelins head snapped to the bookcase. Sasori held one of the books, one where the print was illegible. Sasori sounded curious but his face proved otherwise.

"I wanted to be sure my mom wasn't home."

"I understand," Sasori sighed as he strolled to the couch, book still in his hand. He sat down on the left side of the couch, resting a hand under his chin. With his free hand Sasori took the book closer to his face and began to read it.

* * *

Pein felt something, or someone, leaning on his shoulder. He moved his eyes within their sockets to see who it was and it was no real surprise to him. Konan laid there, her head rested on his shoulder and her arms wrapped around his one arm.

Pein tapped her shoulder with his free hand and slowly she awakened. Her eyes looked dull from her lack of sleep. All the members sleeping patterns had been irregular, but one would think that they would feel fine.

"Konan," Pein whispered softly in her ear, "Is everyone here?"

With a barely noticeable blush creeping onto her face and dusting her cheeks a light pink, Konan released Pein's arm to check if all members were present. She herself had never seen some of them sleep, so it was a shock for her to see someone like Hidan sleeping peacefully next to the door.

She finally realized that only one member was missing. Sasori, not needing to sleep, possibly went to check on the girl. Hopefully she is still willing to tell Pein about her find in "Kensington."

"I'm going," Pein stated. He stood up from the cold floor and began to walk back into Zeppelin's home.

* * *

Zeppelin stood next to the brick fireplace which lay near the right of the couch. Family pictures decorated the mantel, bringing color to the dull room. Zeppelin browsed through them for a specific moment in her life. It was the last picture she got with her father. The picture stood near the center of the mantle, outshining all the rest.

Zeppelin was on a small swing set with her father kneeling next to her. The swing was tied to an old oak tree whose trunk was so thick; three people would be needed to hug it. It was the middle of fall. Burnt orange leaves littered the ground and in the left hand corner was a pile of them.

Zeppelin noted that she smiled in this picture. It was the last picture she had ever smiled in. Her father was so precious to her and he was taken away so easily. Zeppelin could feel her eyes swell and soon a tear rolled down her flushed cheek. Zeppelin tried hard to keep the tears away but the more she tried, the more she realized it wasn't worth it.

"What's wrong?"

Zeppelin realized Sasori now stood beside her, the book no longer in his possession. He seemed to be more annoyed with her crying than anything else. He leaned back against the wall. "Are you going to tell me or keep crying like a little brat?"

Zeppelin clenched her fist. 'Why should I? It's obvious he doesn't care!'

"Well?"

She took a shaky breath in and replied, "My father died in a car crash. He was going on a business trip and made it safely there. He left a little early because we were going to a car show, however, when he was driving home a huge storm was passing by." Her lower lip trembled and another tear rolled down. "He wanted to pull off to the side of the road and wait until the storm lightened up but when he tried to do so, another driver lost control of their steering wheel."

Zeppelin looked up at Sasori and waited for him to speak. She hadn't told many about her father and the fact she told a complete stranger bothered her.

"So?" was all Sasori said.

Zeppelin was stunned. "W-what do you mean? I lost my father! What would you know?" More tears filled her eyes but these were from the hatred she felt toward this man.

Sasori smiled but it was dark and cruel. "What would I know? More than you think, brat. I lost both parents when I was young. You still have your mother, right?"

Zeppelin stayed silent.

"How would you understand my feelings?" Sasori stepped away from the wall and headed back to the tower, not saying another word.

'Both?' Zeppelin couldn't even imagine her life without her father when she was younger. But having neither mother or father? What could that be like? Zeppelin knew he was right though. She could never completely understand his feelings.

A soft thud by the tunnel snapped Zeppelin out of her thoughts. Pein was next to the tunnel. "What did you find?"

Zeppelin whipped away a stray tear with her arm before answering his question, "I f-found-"

"Speak up," Pein commanded.

This time, sounding more confident Zeppelin said, "I f-found a mirror. In the store 'Kensington Antiques.'" Zeppelin straightened her back and lifted her chin.

Pein pondered for a moment. He knew this was true, she wouldn't dare lie to him. He needed to send at least two members to retrieve the mirror so they can return to their world. 'Konan and I shall retrieve the mirror,' Pein told himself.

"Very well. We shall go investigate this mirror to be sure it is the one we need." Pein turned back to the tunnel and jumped into the darkness.

* * *

Zeppelin was curled up in the corner of the couch, waiting for Pein and Konan to return. She watched Deidara and Sasori argue about art. Why they were arguing over the subject was still a mystery to Zeppelin.

"Fine art is the beauty of that single fleeting moment of explosion." Deidara crossed his arms under his chest. He seemed so sure that his art was the best.

Sasori rolled his eyes. "Fine art is something wonderful that's left long into the future…" He smirked. "Eternal beauty." So did Sasori.

This is how the conversation went for about five minutes. Hidan complained of having a head ache, Zeppelin never offered medicine, and said, "Just shut the fuck up! No one gives a damn about your shitty art!" Zeppelin herself was beginning to grow weary of the noises.

She stretched herself out and hopped off the couch to check the time in the kitchen. The digital clock read 9:40. The thought of her mother walking into a house full of strangers sent a shiver down her back. Her mother would first go into shock, then grab the nearest object and throw it one of their heads screaming how they must have stolen her baby's innocence.

"Hey," Deidara was looking up at Zeppelin, "What do you think art is, un?"

Zeppelin was never much of an artist, though she did enjoy admiring others art. She rested a hand on her hip and thought about it for about a minute, she wanted to give him a good answer.

"Art can be anything. Just depends on the person's interest, I suppose." She felt that might be a good answer. Not what he might have been hoping for but it must be better than her agreeing with Sasori. Both men gazed at each other, trying to think of a comment for Zeppelin's view of the subject.

* * *

Together Pein and Konan finished the search on the second story, the location Zeppelin specified in her description about where she found the mirror. There was no such mirror. So, Konan and Pein decided to check the lower floor incase it was moved. "Konan, check the left side of the room."

Konan nodded her head and began the search with Pein. When looking through the room Konan found the same stove Zeppelin discovered under the sheet. It was possible the old man was moving things out of storage.

"Pein, have you found anything?" Konan asked as she looked under another sheet.

Pein walked to the small window and looked down at the road. "No."

* * *

The clock now read 9:51. Zeppelin had to get them back into the tower.

"Excuse me." Zeppelin gained all there attention. Well, only half of Hidan's. He was too busy trying to figure out how to use a phone. Zeppelin would have taken it away if it was any other guest but he seemed to be a bit… slow.

"Yes?" Itachi asked for the whole group.

"I need you to go back to the tower. Pein and Konan should be back any moment now and so will my mom. So if you could quickly-"

"Fuck no! Why the hell should we go back there?" Hidan stepped away from the phone. He walked in front of Zeppelin, confident that she would consider his idea.

"Hidan, you idiot," Kakuzu mumbled from the bookcase. Kakuzu went up to Hidan and told him if they were to do that, they could be easily found by Zeppelin's mother.

The only other place they could stay would be the basement. After Zeppelin told the group this Hidan immediately stomped over to the basement, cussing under his breath. Zeppelin could distinctly hear, "Why the fuck didn't she let us go down there before?" Zeppelin listened to Hidan stomp down the hall until he reached the foyer. He paused for a moment. Someone must have been there, for Hidan began to laugh hysterically before he went into the basement.

More feet slowly came towards the room, the noise echoed off the hall walls. Zeppelin could see two silhouettes glide down the hallway. When they reached the family room, only one spoke. "It wasn't there."

* * *

A/N: Hello everyone! I want to apologize for taking ten years to get this up... I hope the time I put into this chapter was worth it :9 Before I continue to babble I would like to thank Dr. Stilla Live, ViciousViper15, ChesireCatSmiles, Tsuki Ai, and Chocoholic101012 for reviewing! I'd also like to thank anyone who favored the story/ author alert/ story alert/ favored author :) It really does make me jump off walls when I know people read my story! The next chapter will take a while to get out but shouldn't take ten years. So until then please enjoy the first four chapters! :D -Ryuu22 :3

E/N: I'm sorry this took so long to come out. It was my faut *bows head in shame* The chapter was completed but I just never went over it. Please forgive me D: But thank you to all those who reviewed! Dr. Stills Live, ViciousViper15, ChesireCatSmiles, Tsuki Ai, and Chocoholic101012. Oh, I hope you all liked this chapter. I realize there are alot of breaks in it but hopefully you dont mind ^^" Until next time! -Getsu Nichi


	5. Chapter 5

**The Mirror **

**Chapter Five**

* * *

Zeppelin looked at Itachi and then back at Pein. She repeated his words in her mind over and over, trying to grasp it all. 'How could it not be there? I know I just saw it... I know I did!' The redhead remained silent as she stood in the living room, surrounded by some of the Akatsuki. Her face began to heat up, leaving a dark shade of pink on top of her cheeks. She took a quick look over at Deidara and could see him watching her. His blue eyes scowled at her, probably because he, like everyone else in the room, thought she was lying. Zeppelin took her eyes off the blonde and redirected them to Pein.

The Leader's frown deepened as he walked toward the small teen. She stayed in her spot as the other members, excluding Hidan, watched with curiosity. When Pein was nearly nose-to-forehead with Zeppelin, he said, "I don't have time to play your foolish games. Tell me. Where is it?"

"Pein." Konan began to walk forward but her leader raised a hand. The members looked around the room at one another, letting each other know to leave the room. They would return when Pein called for them or if they became impatient. One by one, the rest of Akatsuki left the room, including Konan. Pein and Zeppelin were left alone.

Pein redirected his attention to the Zeppelin and repeated his question. "Where is the mirror?" She could tell that he was trying his very best to keep his voice and temper down.

Zeppelin simply stated, "It is in the antique shop on Kensington. If it is not there, then I don't know." Her thin arms folded across her chest as she looked up into his ringed eyes. He seemed to be grinning now.

"Let's see. . ." He began to pace around Zeppelin, his arms crossed behind his back. "When you searched the store you discovered an identical mirror. You were caught in the act and then brought back here." He paused. "When Konan and I searched for the mirror, it was missing. And so here we are, waiting for the truth." He turned to face Zeppelin and after that he looked back into the hallway. Tobi was peeking in.

Zeppelin could feel herself heat up again. She was positive her blush had spread to her arms now. Ever since she learned of Tobi's split personality, she found it hard to feel at ease around him.

"Tobi," Pein began. "Get Deidara and Sasori in here. I want them to stay in here to watch her. The rest of us will return to the store and search for the owner." Tobi nodded and called out for the pair in his singsong voice. When he called out for Deidara he called him "Senpai", but Sasori was simply Sasori. In a moment a frowning blonde and bored redhead walked in.

Sasori asked what the plan was and Pein gave him a quick breakdown. Sasori would give an occasional nod. Deidara stood next to his Danna, listening very carefully. Zeppelin could see the blonde was disappointed that he could not leave the house for he rolled his eyes whenever Pein said anything along the lines of, "Watch her."

"And if she tries to escape?" Sasori asked.

Pein looked at Zeppelin and answered, "She won't."

It was past ten o'clock now. Mrs. Sims was driving down the dark driveway, trying to keep her eyes open. She had gone to a small party that was more like a welcoming party for her. She didn't think the small dinner party would go on for so long, but it did. All she could think about now was her bed.

The car slowed down as it got closer to the house. The car's lights began to dim and soon Cherry was at a complete stop near the sidewalk leading to the home. Mrs. Sims looked into the house and saw that a light was on, perhaps the hall light. She frowned, thinking Zeppelin was up at this hour.

Mrs. Sims swung her door open and marched up to the door, ready to give Zeppelin a good scolding. She searched through her purse for her set of keys but the door began to open. Zeppelin's mother stepped forward saying, "Zeppelin?" When she was completely in the house the door slammed behind her, causing her to jump forward.

When she spun around to see what caused the door to do that, she saw a man leaning against the door casually. His head was facing the floor so his long, black bangs covered his face. He tilted his head up, making his hair fall out of his face, to reveal red eyes.

"Don't move."

Before Mrs. Sims could respond, another man came down the hall with Zeppelin behind. He had bright orange hair and piercings covered his face. Zeppelin was doing her best to keep herself from making any eye contact with her mother. She thought the looks she got from Pein were terrifying.

"Good evening," said Pein when Zeppelin reached his side. He looked over at Zeppelin, asking, "Well?"

Zeppelin bit down on her lower lip. 'Don't say anything. Not yet, at least.'

Mrs. Sims looked back and forth at the two, waiting for an answer. Zeppelin continued to keep her eyes away from her mother and to do so, she watched Itachi. The raven was still by the door, watching everything in silence. Mrs. Sims eyes soon stopped on Zeppelin, catching Pein's attention.

"She has been allowing us to stay at your home for a few days," Pein stated.

"Who is 'Us'?" Zeppelin's mother asked as she took her eyes off of her daughter. Zeppelin looked up, noting her mother's attention was on Pein again. She was thankful she wasn't being watched anymore. The feeling of her mother's eyes on her bothered her more than being interrogated by Pein.

Itachi was now at Pein's side saying, "Akatsuki." He didn't feel like going into great detail on the organization. It wasn't necessary.

The basement door opened and a silver head could be seen looking out into the hall. They stepped out slowing, looking around the room. The being rubbed the back of their head as they asked, "What did I fucking miss?" Mrs. Sims paled at his foul language.

"Hidan," Itachi began. "Come back to the living room. Now."

The Jashinist rolled his violet eyes. "You ain't my goddamn boss, Uchiha!" He pointed a certain finger at the raven. "I won't do anything you fucking tell me!"

Pein cleared his throat and ordered Hidan to go to the living room with Itachi. It took a moment for Hidan to listen, but he did follow the orders. He cussed as he walked down the hall and said things like, "Damn leader." While he was cursing Pein, Itachi watched Zeppelin, his eyes showing no obvious emotions. When they were out of sight, Pein shoved Zeppelin towards her mother. Mrs. Sims caught her daughter asking if she was alright. Her question was followed by a small nod from her daughter.

"Thanks, mom," Zeppelin whispered.

Mrs. Sims shook her head and looked back at Pein. "What do you want?" She asked as she pulled Zeppelin closer to herself.

Pein didn't illustrate any feelings as he replied, "All I ask for is your cooperation." Neither one answered, so he continued. "We appeared here with no reasonable explanation. In return for sparing her life," he looked down at Zeppelin, "she allowed us a place to stay."

"Get out of my house. Now," Mrs. Sims hissed.

A smirked grew on his face as he turned around to face the hall. "Very well..."

* * *

A/N: I'm so sorry D: I took forever to get this out. . . And the chapter is the shorest one yet. I promise the next one will be much, much longer.

-Ryuu22 :3

"I like pancakes!" (o))

Please review! ^::^


	6. Chapter 6

**The Mirror **

**Chapter Six**

* * *

"Sasori, Deidara."

Zeppelin was torn from her mother's grasp by a blonde flash. She struggled against their hold on her, trying to get free. They squeezed her tighter and hissed in her ear, "Stop moving, un." Zeppelin paused to get a look at Deidara. He looked different, and if she didn't know better she could have mistaken him for a completely different person.

Sasori held Mrs. Sims' arms behind her back, slowly pulling them back further and further. Zeppelin could only watch in horror as her mother screamed for help. She watched her mother's eyes tear up from the pain shooting through her arms. Soon, Sasori stopped his torture but kept his grip on Mrs. Sims.

Pein was leaning against the hall's wall, his eyes glued on Zeppelin. She glared back at him, trying to hold back her tears. He stepped away from the wall slowly and began to step down the hall, calling for the rest of Akatsuki. He ordered them to follow him to the store to hunt down the owner.

When he was located, he was to be interrogated for answers as to where the new location of the mirror was. Even if he was to be uncooperative, he could not be killed. Every member understood the mission and, one by one, they exited the house, each watching Zeppelin and her mother struggle in their comrades' grasp.

When the door closed, Deidara and Sasori pulled the Sims down the hall to the living room. They were thrown onto the couch and Sasori began to talk. "Deidara will stay here with you two. I will be back momentarily. . ." He tried to get away but Deidara held onto his arm. He asked what was so important for him to ignore Pein's order. Sasori simply answered, "It is none of your business. All I will say, however, is that I was given a separate mission. Stay here, brat."

Sasori pushed Deidara away before heading into the kitchen and closed the door behind him so silently that it could not be heard.

* * *

The store was closed for the night. Every day it was closed at nine, not like it really mattered. The store rarely got any customers.

The owner was currently in the back cleaning one of the tables. The wood was dark and rich in color. It's legs were carved into the shapes of vines and other plants, but it was dented in places, taking away some value. He could remember picking up this piece, just like everything in the store. They were, in a sense, his children. He cared for everything but some more than others. His favorites, more like favorite, stayed in the attic. Away from everyone. Until that girl. . . He shook his head. He knew he overreacted at the time and now he felt a little guilty. Even so, she shouldn't have gone up there.

A knock on the door took his attention away from cleaning. He dropped the rag on the table as he headed for the door. He began to mumble about "Kids these days" and how they have no  
respect. They do anything and everything they want and don't give a damn about others. When he reached the door, he didn't see some kids. He saw no one. He took hold of the door handle and stepped out onto the porch. He looked left and right before he yelled out into the night. "Hey! You punk kids!"

He listened for a reply but all he heard was the chirping of the crickets. The owner turned back towards his store, an arm planted on his shoulder. He slowly turned around to come face to face with a masked man. "Move and you die." He growled. His odd eyes pierced through the owner's body and sent a shiver through him. He tried to speak but he looked like a fish out of water. Kakuzu began to speak again. "Take us to the mirror in the attic, now."

The owner shoved the hand away and sprinted down the path leading to the store. He only got so far for he was stopped by thick, black threads. They wrapped around his boney arms and legs and began to drag him back to the store, scraping his body against the cement paths. When the elder was back next to Kakuzu, he was taken up by the neck and thrown into the store. Kakuzu walked into the store and closed the door behind him. He looked around and said, "Well?"  
Pein was the first to appear, everyone followed behind from the back of the store.

Kakuzu stepped back as Pein walked over to the elder, each step echoed through the building. The elder stood up to face Pein but made sure to keep his distance for he didn't know just how dangerous these people could be. He looked straight into Pein's ringed eyes and asked, "What do you want?"

Pein simply stated that he wanted the mirror so he and his men could return to their world. He then had to explain the fact that he honestly came from a different world. The elder found it hard to believe but he took his words. What came next was unexpected to the Akatsuki.

"I sold it." Members looked around the room at one another as Pein let out an irritated sigh. He raised a hand to his head and rubbed his temples.

"Where is it now?" He shook his head slightly, slowly getting more and more irritated with the situation. Was it really so much to want to return home and complete some unfinished business? Apparently so.

The man looked around the room nervously, trying to decide whether or not he should answer the question. The moment he was asked for the mirrors new location, he felt his heart drop to the pit of his stomach. The room began to spin and his head felt light. Oh, how he wished nothing more than to disappear.

"I-it's in Japan now."

"And that is . . . where?" Itachi asked for Pein. Itachi stood next to his leader now, sharingan blazing.

The old man looked around the room, he was puzzled from the question and was afraid to ask if he heard wrong. His breathing hitched as he choked out, "W-what did you say? Where?"

Neither Pein nor Itachi answered for a moment. Both looked at each other, the same emotionless mask covered their faces. All the elder got for an answer was a weak nod from Itachi. The store owner mouthed "O.k." before he made an attempt at standing. His legs shook as he rose from the floor but he was successful at getting up without falling down on the wooden floors.

"Can you give is any more details on the location?" Pein questioned with a firm tone.

The elder weakly pointed to his desk and told them there should be paper work on it in the middle draw, inside a red folder. Pein made his way over and looked through the pile of paper. When he was sure he found what the old man was talking about, he asked the old man if it was the right one.

The owner quickly replied, "Yes." Pein turned his back on the old man and gave a small signal to someone.

A sharp pain shot through his chest and spread throughout his body. Blood pulsed out from the wound in a small crimson river and flowed all the way to the floor. He coughed and more of the red fluid appeared. He reached to his wound and found himself impaled with the same threads he was caught in earlier. He laughed a bit before his knees gave out, sending him to the floor.

He sat there, watching the group migrate over to his desk. Their movements were muted to his ears and there steps could not be felt no longer. His eyes became heavy and his vision hazy. He smirked, wishing he lied, but being afraid really did make you do stupid things. Things that might just get you in my situation, he thought.

Itachi walked over the figure and bent down and reached out to his neck. He felt for a pulse, but it was no longer present. The man was dead. Itachi stepped back and looked over to Pein.

Pein looked up from the papers and said, "We will be leaving shortly."

Itachi's reply was a, "Hn."

He looked back at the man and caught a smile on his face. In all of his life, not once did he see someone die smiling. This man had no reason to smile. But here he was, grinning like a fool. Even his pale eyes smiled up at Itachi, which began to disturb him.

The night of the Uchiha Massacre came to mind instantly. The faces of his fellow Uchiha's were all the same; shock, horror, and some even scared. None smiled like him. And in a way, Itachi liked the man a little more. He smiled back to the man before he walked back to the group.

* * *

A/N: . . . Well, this chapter was longer than the last one :9 But I hate to say this but. . . The next chapter will probaly be the last.

That's all I have to say :) Please review for an epic last chapter!

-Ryuu22 :3

"I like pancakes!" (o))

Please review! ^.V


End file.
